Black Magic
by RobinRocks
Summary: Condemned as the Avenger in an Azarathian prophecy, Robin now finds himself in a race against time to reclaim the Orb of Azarath from Slade. Why does Robin get that uneasy feeling Raven is involved? Accompanying MV by Coolteenzz! COMPLETE
1. Prologue: Robin's Point of View

Prologue

Robin's Point of View

"Bruce always said that it wasn't easy. He'd say it every night before we left the Batcave, and he'd say it when we came back after a night well spent cleaning up Gotham. I always listened to him – you don't ignore Bruce – but I don't think I ever _really _listened to him. I don't think I ever took those words seriously.

But now I know he was right.

I never found it hard in the first place, this superhero thing. I guess it came as a sort of second nature to me, growing up in a circus; you don't live in a circus without getting into a few fights. The bright costume. The acrobatics. The hours of work and practice and perfection. In some ways, being a superhero isn't all that different to being a circus star. There is, however, one vast difference:-

A superhero is fighting for something, for the ideals that they strive to promote - truth and justice and peace and love - as Bruce, and especially Superman, would put it. There's good, and there's evil. There are heroes and villains, right and wrong, light and dark. It should be that simple, and up until recently, I foolishly and naïvely believed that it was.

But it's not.

It's not, as any of my many run-ins with Slade will convict. Bruce puts him as a Moriaty-figure to my Sherlock Holmes, which is his way of saying that Slade is always one step ahead and that I'll never catch him.

I hate to admit it, but Batman may be right about that too. I've definitely redirected my priorities concerning Slade. I go overboard when it comes to him, I know I do, and the Titans, my friends, know I do. They don't seem overly bothered about him, but I don't know if it's because I'm the only one who can see Slade for the threat he is, or because Slade goes out of his way to bait and taunt me.

At least, that's how it used to be between him and I. A simple hero-villain, Holmes-Moriaty continuum. But it can never be that way now. Not after what he has done, all in the name of his prophecy. Not now that he has marked me as the "Avenger" and is set on killing me. And if he succeeds, he'll be able to summon the apocalypse at his command and bring the world to its knees.

I told the Titans everything. The prophecy. The Avenger. The mortal gods. Everything.

Everything apart from what happened in Arkham Asylum. I haven't told them what Slade did to me, but I don't think I need to. I think they already know, but they won't say anything, and neither will I. I think we have come to silent – and pitying on their parts – agreement that it should remain unspoken. It shattered me, completely crushed me for a few days, but I feel better now. I don't know if it will ever heal completely, and for a while I wanted to quit being Robin.

But I can't escape. Not now. Raven says you can't run from your destiny, and she's right. No matter what my destiny is, death or victory, I have to face it, and I know my friends will face it with me. I guess that's the very most I could hope for, and I guess that's all that matters.

But now, not for the first time in my life, I have no idea what tomorrow will bring…"


	2. Aftershock

Well, to all who read _Asylum_… I welcome you! And here, as promised, is _Black Magic_ – the very long second instalment of _Promises and Prophecies_…

Here we get to see a lot more of Azarathian magic and prophecies and a lot less of Robin whining (although the prologue was admittedly pretty much Robin whining…). And you can always depend on Raven to give him a sharp slap to snap him out of it…

Long-time readers I would hope to welcome back are; YamiTai; Quinn and His Quill; Phoenix Skyborne; Rocky Wolf; Narroch06; Daybreak25; Seductive Angel; and Alexnandru Van Gordon.

_Asylum_ hit triple digits – it went _over_ 100, actually – so let's see if we can do the same here. Even one-word reviews are nice!

Quick recap; _blahblahblah_ prophecy, _blahblahblah_ Slade rapes Robin to help fulfil said prophecy, _blahblahblah_ Robin sulks and yells at Starfire after being beaten up in Arkham Asylum by Slade…

It's all good.

Here, then, is the first chapter of _Black Magic_.

Enjoy!

Aftershock

"…A true classic there, Don McClean with _American Pie_; any patriots out there? That was for you… and hey, what about that game last night? The NY Yankees simply _hammered_ the Chicago Titans, so that puts the Yankees into the semi-finals in this year's U.S Superbowl, and let's hope for another performance like last night's because the Yanks really gave a spectacular play out there on that field. Too bad for the Titans, they were doing so well after their victory against the LA Lakers, but you can't win 'em all, right? Speaking of which, we've still got two pairs of tickets to be won to attend this year's annual HellFlame Monster Truck Rally, so get ringing in, folks, to be our lucky 100th and 105th callers! Our hourly _NewsBite_ is on in 5, but for now here's Green Day with _Boulevard of Broken Dreams_…"

Robin flicked off the shower radio and stood for a few seconds in the quiet, letting the hot water from the shower pour down on him like rain and enjoying it very much indeed.

It had been a full week since the incident in Arkham Asylum, and only now was he beginning to get back to normal. In fact, that morning he was feeling good, sort of upbeat and energetic, the latter probably because for the past week he had refused to don his red, green and yellow "R" uniform and join the Titans in fighting crime. They hadn't pushed him, knowing that he needed time to lick his wounds and pull himself together, and had instead left him to his own devices and avoided striking up a conversation, except for Starfire, who had taken it upon herself to stalk the poor boy all over the Tower in an attempt to get him to talk to her. He had, in fact, spoken very little in the past week, except to ask for something very quietly and unextensively, or to snap at Starfire to stop following him; however, he had tracked down Starfire the very next day following his ordeal in Arkham and apologised to her for yelling at her. Starfire, of course, had forgiven him before he had even opened his mouth, and had since then been trying to get him to act normally, or to at least dress what she saw to be "normal". Instead he had raided the box of expensive designer clothes Bruce had bought for him, which both Beast Boy and Cyborg had admired – and Beast Boy had attempted to "borrow"- and mooched about the Tower in his bare feet, and sometimes his underwear, depending on his mood. His time had been spent watching TV, listening to Cyborg's radio, going for long pointless rides through the city on his R-cycle, working himself into a sweaty breathless wreck by spending hours on end in the gym, pushing his body to the absolute extreme until he quite often collapsed with exhaustion right in the middle of the floor, and holing up in his room to avoid Starfire. Most infuriatingly for the other Titans, he refused to answer to the name "Robin", but only Raven knew his real name, and she was quite sure he would go completely crazy if she called him "Dick Grayson" in front of the others. They all found it odd though, that despite everything, the fact that he was pretty much giving _himself_ the cold shoulder, he was still wearing his mask.

But yesterday he felt as though he had awoken from his absorbed, self-piteous state, and had removed his stonewashed Tommy Hilfiger jeans and his black DKNY t-shirt, and had instead meticulously and purposefully replaced them with his uniform. He had no mirror in which to observe his reflection – once upon a time he had owned two but they had both been smashed, one by Raven's anger and the other by his own – but the feel of it on his skin, the comforting weight of his cape on his shoulders, just having the shining "R" badge emblazoned on his chest… he suddenly felt alright. Normal. Calm. _Himself_.

He accepted that he was Robin.

And as much as he didn't want to, he accepted that he was the Avenger.

He had descended the stairs, gone through the front room and entered the kitchen, where his friends had been sitting scarfing pizza which they had picked up on the way back from their last call. They had looked up, and they had smiled to see him in his familiar traffic-light garb, and they had accepted him back so easily it was as if nothing had ever happened. They had sat him down, given him a couple of slices of pizza, asked him if he ok now and if he wanted to talk.

It wasn't so much _wanting_ to talk as _needing_ to.

So he had talked, and they had listened to him, to that cool, commanding voice that he had barely used in a whole week.

And they had been rendered speechless by what he had told them. They had stared at him, asked him if he was joking, told him that he _had_ to be joking, and when he had smiled sadly and said that he wished he was, they had bombarded him with questions, most of which it had been beyond his knowledge to answer. All he knew was that Slade was going to kill him, or die trying, and should he succeed, the remaining Titans would lose their powers, as would the Justice League and all of the other super-powered beings that were so classed as "mortal gods". Understandably, the Titans hadn't been too enamoured with this news, nor were they ecstatic that Slade was out to get their leader on a whole new level. Starfire had irritatingly clung to him and vowed that she would protect him at all costs, and the other three had nodded gravely and agreed and told him not to worry, they'd have Slade's ass if he came within half a mile of the Boy Wonder.

However, he had noticed that it was Raven who seemed most distressed about the whole thing, and he doubted it was solely because he was at the very top of Slade's hit-list. She was connected to the Orb of Azarath somehow, and her reaction to the news of Slade's theft of it, and the role it played in the prophecy, had not been at all positive; on the contrary, she was almost hysterical in her adamancy that it had to be retrieved from the villain ASAP.

But exactly _what_ the connection she held with it was, Robin had yet to discover.

He turned the tap on the shower, shutting it off, and shook his ebony-maned head to get rid of the excess water. Then he reached up to retrieve his towel, which was slung over the top edge of the glass shower cubicle, rubbed his hair semi-dry, quickly towelled off and wrapped the towel around his waist. He lightly kicked open the cubicle door and stepped out into the bathroom… and nearly had a heart-attack as his eyes fell on Raven, who was sitting cross-legged in mid-air, her head in her hands and her hood down.

"Good morning," she greeted him pleasantly, smiling slightly as he stared at her, gobsmacked.

"What the hell are you doing in here!" Robin demanded, putting one hand almost-instinctively to the white towel at his waist, as though to check it was perfectly secure, and more to the point, still there.

"Levitating, it appears," Raven informed him dryly.

"_Hilarious_," he responded sarcastically, glaring at her icily from behind his wet mask. "What if I hadn't been wearing a towel?"

"Then I'd have had my fair share of entertainment for the day." She grinned and he scowled darkly.

"How long have you been there?"

"Since you got in." Her grin widened at his horrified expression. "It's ok, I didn't see anything. It steamed up pretty quick."

"Yeah, well…" He fought the blush off, with some difficulty, and folded his arms. "What do you want?"

"I need to talk to you."

Robin raised an eyebrow and walked past where she was floating to the sink, where he picked up his red toothbrush – Starfire was adamant that their toothbrushes had to be colour-oriented; red for Robin, purple for Raven, green for Beast Boy, blue for Cyborg, and orange for the alien herself – and made a show of applying toothpaste to it.

"Surely it can wait?" He stated rather than asked. "I mean, at least until I'm _dressed?_" He put the toothbrush in his mouth, turned on the tap and started to brush his teeth, his eyebrow still raised questioningly even though his actual questions had been rhetorical.

Raven stared at him for a long moment, then floated gently to the floor and landed softly on her feet.

"No, it can't wait. I've been thinking about it all night, and worrying about it all night…"

He said something, undistinguishable through his mouthful of toothpaste, but she guessed he was asking what she was worrying about.

"The Orb of Azarath, Robin."

He stopped his rhythmic brushing for a few seconds, instead watching her with his head to one side. Her amethyst eyes met his masked azure ones, and he nodded a little, finished brushing his teeth, spat out his mouthful of toothpaste, washed out his mouth and turned to face her, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand.

"Ok, so you need to talk to me." He frowned quizzically at her. "Raven, you need to tell me about this Orb of Azarath. You barely said anything last night. I have to know everything about it if I'm going to stop Slade."

Raven nodded.

"Well, you already know it's vessel of extreme power that requires a key-"

Robin snapped his fingers, interrupting her.

"The key!" He exclaimed. "Slade doesn't have the key! And if _you _know _what_ it is or _where_ it is, then we can-"

"I've never seen it." This time it was Raven's turn to interrupt him. "I don't know what it looks like, or if it's even in Azarath. I'm sorry, Robin…"

He sighed.

"Ok, fine… so we haven't got an advantage over Slade… _damn_…"

"Well, I know more about it than Slade does. Surely _that's_ an asset?"

Robin nodded.

"Yeah, definitely." He combed his fingers through his shining damp hair. "So spill, Ray."

"Well, the orb supposedly, according to Azarathian legend, harbours the powers torn from the monsters that once ruled Azarath until it was liberated by Arella, a warrior queen who vanquished the monsters and ruled Azarath for many centuries, transforming it into the peaceful dimension it is now." She paused, noting his questioning look. "Yes, Robin, I was born in Azarath. I believe I have told you that before."

Robin nodded.

"Yeah, you have. Right, so the power contained within the orb is supernatural?"

"Yes. The devastation it would unleash upon the world would be unimaginable."

"Did you know about the prophecy?"

Raven shook her head.

"No. I've always known about the orb, and I've seen it so many times I've lost count, but I had no idea there was a prophecy connected to it."

"Hmm…" Robin put one hand to his chin, something she'd seen him do countless times when he was thinking very hard about something, and looked at the floor.

"What's the verdict, Sherlock?"

"Shut up, I'm trying to think."

She bit back the desire to emphasise the word "trying" and instead watched him intently. She felt a little guilty that he was standing there wearing nothing but a towel, for the simple reason that he couldn't remove it until she left, and she had no intention of doing that just yet, so she could only hope he liked wearing towels.

He shook his head finally and looked up, folding his arms.

"Admit defeat?" Raven asked expressionlessly.

"Well, it doesn't add up. This prophecy is bad news, Ray, and it involves the all-powerful Orb of Azarath, and yet the prophecy itself isn't chronicled in Azarathian history."

Raven shook her head in confirmation.

"It can't be, because I'd know about it. I mean, even if no-one had told me, I've read just about every book in the Senate House library, and I've definitely read all of the Azarathian history ones, and it wasn't mentioned in any of them."

"You like reading, huh?"

"Yes." She glared at him icily. "Anyway, you little hypocrite, half of the time you've got your nose stuck in some stupid detective book-"

Robin raised his hands in surrender.

"Hey, I never said I had a problem with reading. Reading's good; Bruce likes reading. Bruce forced me to read just about every book he owns, and that's a lot of books, Ray, _a lot of books_."

"So you should be up to scratch on _The Babysitters Club_," Raven shot at him nastily.

"Uh-huh. And _Sweet Valley High_."

She stared at him and he grinned, showing he was joking. She shook her head and sighed.

"Ok, Mr Upbeat, I'm sorry. You didn't ask for that… for once."

"Gee, thanks."

Raven looked up at him.

"Robin, seriously, we have to get that orb back."

"Don't I know it. I got kicked around Arkham Asylum in aid of that stupid prophecy."

_Among other things…_

"Yes, well, not to be unsympathetic, Robin, because you certainly didn't deserve it, but you _did_ go off by yourself and cut off all means of communication, so you _were_ kind of putting yourself out to be kicked around."

Robin sighed heavily.

"Yeah, I know…"

_I wasn't putting myself out to be homosexually raped, though…_

His sleep was not peaceful, and he doubted it would be for a fair while. He was starting to come to terms with what had happened to him in the asylum physically, but when sedated in a subconscious state he could not escape from the horrific replay dimension in which he dreamed about being raped, and from which he awoke terrified, drenched in cold sweat, half-convinced he was pinned down, naked and bloody, and being subjected to that torture all over again. In his nightmares it wasn't always Slade who was committing that sin upon him; sometimes it would be a random figure conjured by his imagination, but it was always male, or sometimes it was a dark presence that, in many ways, was not really there, but was real enough to make him wake up shrieking Bruce's name as though he was still only 8 years old.

"Robin…"

He looked up at Raven, who was gazing at him sadly, her deep violet eyes large and unblinking. He knew what she was thinking, and that she could not help but pity him. He was unsure as to how they knew what Slade had done to him in Arkham – he suspected Batman had something to do with it – but he wished that they were oblivious, because the pitying glances and unspoken words of condolence made it all the more difficult to deal with. He didn't want their pity, but he knew that they could not help but feel it towards him, because they could only imagine what a terrible ordeal it must have been for him, the fact that it had been homosexual and that it had been a rape, which was bad enough on its own, and the fact that Robin hated Slade more than anything else in the entire cosmos.

Robin shrugged offhandedly and folded his arms.

"What?"

She opened her mouth and their eyes met again and came to another silent agreement.

"Robin, silence won't heal the pain," she told him softly.

"I don't want to talk about it, Raven… I _can't_. I'm sorry, but I can't." He turned away from her and gazed stonily at his reflection in the mirror above the sink

_Besides, you don't know the half of it…_

And she didn't, because he could never, _ever _tell anyone what had preceded the rape, that out-of-mind feeling that had invaded both him and Slade and played them like puppets or dolls, made them _kiss_ even though they had had no desire to even touch each other. That haunted him just as badly as the rape, maybe more so, because he had not been in control of his own body at that point, and the thought that _something else_ had been in control of him frightened him. And when he thought about it, when he could bring himself to… well, he had nothing short of made out with his most hated enemy, and if he thought about it like that, it was almost as though he had _invited_ the rape upon him, and that made it all the worse.

But he could never tell Raven that. He could never tell Batman, he could never tell Starfire or Beast Boy or Cyborg. He could never tell anyone, and so that brought him to the most chilling conclusion of all; he and Slade were now unwillingly bound by that dark secret, and it had to stay between them forevermore, even in death.

He saw Raven move closer to him in the reflection of the mirror, and saw her reach out one of her small hands to place on his shoulder. He flinched and shrank back out of her reach.

"Don't touch," he told her quietly. She looked at him for a long moment, then nodded and withdrew her hand.

"I'm sorry."

"It's ok…"

She knew why he didn't want to be touched; he had been like that since he had returned from Arkham. He suddenly couldn't stand anyone being too close to him or touching him. The rape had scarred him and now being touched, however lightly, made him panic, even though he knew perfectly well that Starfire or Cyborg were not going to do what Slade had done to him. Raven herself doubted that this phobia would last forever, but in all fairness it had only been a week and his metaphoric wounds were nowhere near fully healed. It was annoying, however, if one of the other Titans accidentally brushed past him; he had nearly freaked a few days ago when she had accidentally bumped into him in the corridor.

"The orb."

Raven blinked and looked at him.

"What?"

Robin turned around to face her, his bare arms still folded across his similarly naked chest.

"The orb, Ray. The Orb of Azarath. You were telling me about it."

"Yeah, well, I told you most of it."

"_Most of it_," Robin emphasised. "But not everything. Come on, Raven. You _must_ know more about it than that; there _has_ to be more to it."

Raven shook her head.

"Not really. I guess the only thing I didn't tell you was something I should have told all of you two years ago."

"And that would be?..." Robin prompted. "Raven, every detail is vital."

"Ever the detective," Raven commented dryly. He raised his eyebrows but refrained from firing back. Raven sighed.

"Look, remember when I met you and the Titans, and you asked me where I was from and what I was doing knocking about Jump City and everything, and I told you I'd been sent as a messenger from a world beyond this… remember?"

"Yeah, and we all thought you were weird. I remember."

"You thought I was being evasive," Raven added coolly. "But I was telling you the truth. The whole reason I'm on Earth in the first place is because I was sent here two years ago bearing the Orb of Azarath. Some kind of evil being tried to steal it for its own use, and although it failed to obtain it, the Azarathian Senate decided it would be better if the orb was removed from Azarath and sent to Earth where it would be protected by the "mortal gods", as we've taken to calling ourselves. You know, Superman and Batman and the Justice League and _us_…"

Robin seemed surprised.

"And that's why you're here?"

"Yes. I took the orb to Metropolis, because I'd been told that Superman was the main protection choice, but the orb keeps getting moved around to keep its location anonymous. I decided to stick around on Earth for a while, because it's so different to Azarath, and then I met up with the Titans and the rest is history…"

Robin nodded.

"And you've never gone back to Azarath?"

"No. My mother lives in Azarath; she's a member of the senate. But, truthfully, I like Earth better, so I never went back. They know where I am anyway, and they know I'm part of the Teen Titans, so if they ever needed me back in Azarath they could get hold of me easily…"

"And do they know that the orb has been stolen by Slade to fulfil a prophecy?"

Raven shrugged.

"I don't know. They might do. They're big into scrying over there – you know, crystal balls and stuff – so they might be following the orb's every movement. But they don't seem to be making much of an effort to get it back, so they probably don't know about it."

"Maybe – this sounds dumb, I know – but maybe the Azarathians think it's safe in Slade's possession. You know, safe from the "evil being" at least."

"But the rest of the world isn't safe from Slade," Raven countered. "And neither are you. We have to get it back, Robin, and when we do I'm going to take it back to Azarath and they can send it somewhere else, somewhere where Slade cannot get it and the world will be safe from the prophecy at least."

Robin nodded.

"The prophecy is our first priority," he agreed.

"Right, and as the "Avenger", _you're_ the one Slade is after, so we have to make sure he doesn't lure you into any traps. Robin, don't do anything stupid, for Pete's sake. Go running off by yourself and you're asking for trouble. Slade is out to kill you, and he'll succeed if you're not careful."

"Yeah, I know. He almost _did_ kill me, Ray. If you guys hadn't turned up…"

"You have Starfire to thank for that," Raven reminded him flatly. She sighed heavily. "I should have gone back to Azarath two years ago when I had the chance…"

"I'm glad you didn't."

Raven looked up at him and saw he was smiling and she smiled in return.

"I'll leave you alone now," she said, as though she thought she was being very generous.

"Yeah, thanks…" He answered snippily. She raised her eyebrows.

"Don't you be sarcastic with me," she told him dangerously.

"Well, _what a time_, Raven… couldn't you have waited until I was dressed? I mean, ambushing me coming out of the shower-"

"You want to be towel-less, Wonder Boy?" She smirked at him. "_Azarath. Metrion_-"

"Raven, _no!_" He shrieked, interrupting her and clinging extremely tightly to the towel at his waist. She stopped and giggled.

"Fine, I won't be that cruel to you…" She pulled up her hood and a black bird-shaped empath surrounded her form. "By the way…" she added as she melted into her own dark energy, "that was some good singing to _American Pie_. Ever thought about setting up a band with Beast Boy?"

The bird engulfed her completely and soared through the floor. Robin stared at the place where she had been, seething.

_The one time I sing in the shower…_

He got dressed, combed his ebony hair back into his usual crown of spikes with the aid of some gel, tossed his towel onto the rack and left the bathroom, deliberating whistling the chorus of _American Pie_ as though to make a point. He took the stairs two at a time, made his way through the front room and entered the kitchen, where his four friends were situated; Raven was sitting at the table reading and Starfire was bearing witness to an all-out war that was raging between Cyborg and Beast Boy concerning the half-robot's usual complaint – tofu-replica eggs and soy milk.

"Friends, please do not fight so!" Starfire cried as Robin came over to the table and stood next to her, his arms folded.

"What _is_ it with those two?" He asked incredulously, his question rhetorical as he and Starfire watched Cyborg swipe at the shape-shifter's head with a frying pan; Raven was completely uninterested and merely turned the page of her book in response, not looking up.

"Cy! B.B!" Robin yelled, struggling to be heard over Cyborg's shrieking of; "No more damn tofu, you little grass-stain! I swear I'm gonna hurl if you trick me into eating another one of those fake eggs!"

"Cy, shut up!" Robin tried again, but his venture was in vain; Cyborg was now beating Beast Boy over the head with an empty soy milk carton.

"May I try?" Starfire inquired, looking up at the resilient leader. Robin nodded.

"You got the floor, Star."

Starfire frowned, not understanding his statement, and he shook his head to tell her to overlook it. She stood up, took a deep breath… and let out a completely unearthly, high-pitched shriek at the very top of her lungs. The four remaining Titans all stopped what they were doing to cover their ears and wince at the sheer pain Starfire's Tamaranean caterwauling inflicted on their eardrums.

The alien girl eventually stopped and looked around beguilingly, as though pleased with what she had accomplished.

"Ow… nice work, Starfire," Robin muttered, hitting himself on the side of his head with the flat of his palm to rid himself of the incessant ringing drilling into his skull.

"Yeah, I think we're all pretty much deaf now, " Raven added dryly, opening her book again and shaking her head.

"Dude, that was _lethal!_" Beast Boy wailed; his pointed ears were the most sensitive and Starfire's shrieking had caused him considerably more pain than it had caused the others. They were now giving tiny involuntary twitches and Beast Boy moaned and put his hands over them in an effort to stop it.

"Ok, Star, point taken," Cyborg added hastily. "Just don't do it again."

Starfire simply beamed.

"Well, _must_ you two always argue?" Robin countered. "It's enough to make _anyone_ scream."

"Ah, Robbie, things were so laid back when you were in your week-long sulk," Cyborg contemplated with a sigh. "Now you're back to bossing us all around with a vengeance. Me and B.B argued for three hours straight about tofu and nobody did anything about it."

"Good thing I'm back then," Robin said shortly.

"Couldn't agree more," Raven murmured from behind her book.

"Anyway, Cy, I can solve your problem," Robin went on, nodding slightly at Raven's praise, and he pushed past Beast Boy, who was still trying to hold his ears still, and opened the fridge. He pulled out two cardboard boxes containing last night's leftover pizza, kicked the fridge shut and placed them on the table. He opened both boxes, helped himself to a slice of Hawaiian pizza and thumbed for Cyborg to do the same.

"Problem solved," he grinned, sinking his teeth into his slice. Cyborg grinned in return and grabbed a slice. Raven looked up from her book and wrinkled her nose.

"Pizza for breakfast?" She questioned sceptically, looking from Robin to Cyborg and back again. Cyborg shrugged.

"Sure, why not? That's why Robbie's the boss; he's the brains of the outfit."

Raven snorted and went back to her book, while Starfire leaned over the table and followed the boys' example; Beast Boy went back to the grill to rescue his now-burning tofu eggs.

"Yo, Robbie, we got anything good to drink?" Cyborg asked, glancing quickly at Beast Boy in regards to his soy milk. Robin didn't attempt to answer through his mouthful of pizza, but raised his eyebrows in response and went back to the fridge, where he found an ice-cold six-pack of Coca-Cola. He swallowed and grinned.

"Paydirt," he said happily, holding up his prize and kicking the fridge closed again.

"_Paydirt?_" Cyborg repeated as Robin broke the plastic seal on the six-pack, separating the cans.

"Bruce always says it," Robin explained. "Not actually sure what it _means_, though…" He tossed a can to Cyborg, who caught it deftly, cracked it open and knocked it back appreciatively. Robin chucked one each to Starfire and Raven, who had ventured up from her book yet again, then looked across to Beast Boy; the shape-shifter was scraping the burnt remains of his tofu eggs from the bottom of the frying pan.

"B.B, you want one?" Robin asked pleasantly, opening his own can and taking a sip. Beast Boy turned around slowly, the spatula wielded threateningly in one hand. His green eyes gleamed in Cyborg's direction and his long pointed ears gave yet another involuntary twitch. Robin blinked and looked sideways at Cyborg, who seemed unconcerned by the "Look of Chagrin" Beast Boy was shooting in his direction.

"_Look what you did to my eggs!_" Beast Boy wailed, brandishing the frying pan at Cyborg and narrowly missing smacking Robin squarely in the chest with it. Squijeed at the bottom of the pan was the smoking, black remains of Beast Boy's tofu eggs.

Cyborg snorted.

"Hey, B, I did you a favour," he reasoned. "You don't wanna eat that stuff."

Beast Boy slammed the pan down and shrieked insults at Cyborg, who in turn crushed his empty Coke can and returned them, and Robin put down his own can and leapt in between them in an effort to stop them from killing each other but resulted in getting crushed instead as they pounced at each other. The three boys ended up wrestling on the floor, Cyborg and Beast Boy trying to get at each other and poor Robin simply trying to get out of the way; Starfire saw his dilemma and dived in as well, more because she liked the "Piling-on" than anything else, and they all got a bit fried by the odd stray starbolt.

Raven simply turned the page of her book and sipped her Coke.

And then the alarm went off and the kitchen started to flash crimson, warning the Teen Titans that they were needed out in the city.

"For Pete's sake, it's nine in the morning!" Beast Boy wailed. "What is it with these super-villains; are they all insomniacs!"

"Ow, somebody is on my hair…" Starfire stated as she tried to tug her mane of red hair out from underneath where it was stuck.

"Sorry, Star," Cyborg replied. "Hey, where's Robin?"

"Ouch… here…" Came the Boy Wonder's voice, and they heard him grunt and shift and he finally surfaced between Cyborg and Beast Boy, his immaculately-gelled hair messy. He smoothed it back into shape and wriggled free from between his friends.

"Remind me not to try and stop you guys from fighting again," he muttered darkly as he stood up. Raven appeared at his side, her hood up.

"Come on, we have to go," she said coolly, addressing all of them. "It might be Slade, and you all know what that means…" She looked purposefully at Robin, who pulled his cape straight and glanced at her reproachfully.

"The prophecy," he answered shortly. "The Orb of Azarath."

"The Avenger," Starfire added softly, placing her hand lightly on Robin's shoulder. He shrugged it away and brushed past Raven, making towards the front room.

"Raven's right, we have to go now…" He said abruptly, looking at them briefly, then turning on his heel and half-running through into the front room, where the huge TV screen was lit up with a huge map of Jump City and a little of Gotham.

"Where's the strike?" Cyborg questioned as he, Starfire, Raven and Beast Boy joined their leader at the mainframe. Robin tapped at the keyboard for a few seconds and the upper left quadrant was pasted over the first map in much larger detail. There was a flashing red square near the edge.

"The diamond mine," Robin answered, his voice hollow. He turned to them and they looked blankly at him, as though his words should mean something.

Except Beast Boy.

Robin saw the shape-shifter turn away a little and his expression softened.

"Beast Boy?" He asked gently.

"Hey, B, you ok?" Cyborg inquired. Beast Boy's ears twitched a little, but this time it had nothing to do with Starfire's shrieking.

"Beast Boy, what is the matter?" Starfire added when the shape-shifter did not reply.

"Terra," Robin answered for him, his voice quiet. "Remember, she was with us that last time we were in that mine. We had only just met her. That was before Slade corrupted her."

"The mine was _where_ Slade corrupted her, if I remember," Cyborg murmured.

Beast Boy hugged himself insecurely and averted his large emerald eyes to the floor.

"I can't believe she betrayed us," he said softly.

Raven muttered something that sounded distinctly like "I can" and Robin and Cyborg both glared at her.

"B.B, you don't have to come if you don't want to," Robin went on. Beast Boy looked up at him.

"Why do you say that?" He asked softly. Robin frowned and bit his lip.

"Because… because I think we're dealing with Slade… and I think we're dealing with Terra," he said carefully. "The diamond mine, for old time's sake… a little convenient, wouldn't you say?"

The others nodded.

"And however much we wish it wasn't so, Terra betrayed us to Slade and now she's his apprentice. Slade wants to kill me, so it seems only natural that he would use Terra as a weapon against us."

Starfire gasped.

"She would not," she said breathlessly. "True, Terra is no longer our friend, but she would never-"

"Star's right," Beast Boy interrupted. "Terra wouldn't ever kill. She's confused, not evil, ok, Robin?"

Robin sighed defeatedly.

"Well, we'll find out soon enough," he reasoned. He looked up at them all and silence reigned.

"Just say the word, Avenger," Cyborg said, somewhat uneasily. Robin grinned weakly and pulled his "T"-adorned communicator from his yellow utility belt.

"We'll go in the T-car; I want us to stay together until we know what we're dealing with. We're jumping to conclusions; it might not be Slade at all…"

The other Titans nodded in silent agreement and Robin smiled grimly.

"TITANS, GO!"

* * *

…And a cliché Robin-line to finish up there. Captivating first chapter? Hope so…

Well, tell me what y'all think, and I'll the get the next chapter up ASAP! It's that one where Robin and Terra have a bitch-fight…

Christmas Eve tomorrow! Hope you've all been good little boys and girls…

_So read and review; I hope that you might!_

_Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!_

- Merry Red-Xmas from RobinRocks x


	3. Apprentice vs Apprentice

Hi there, dudes and dudettes! I know it's been a while – since last year, if you wanna get technical – especially considering that we're now officially four whole days into 2006. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

So we're back with another chapter – the one which the "preview" of _Black Magic_ which was featured at the end of _Asylum_ was taken from. So that means, of course, that there's a bit of a bitch-fight between Robin and Terra, and… well, something else…

To all old hands who have loyally returned to me; Phoenix Skyborne, YamiTai, Daybreak25, Narroch06, Rocky Wolf and Quinn and His Quill – who is now sulking about the fact that I got over 100 reviews for _Asylum_ and refuses to review unless he is "thoroughly impressed"… I love you too, Quinn…

And, um, Timberfox… I'm really glad you like it, but… you _would_ need to read _Asylum_ first…

Everybody get out your air-horns and let's get this party… _fight_… started!

Whoo-hoo!

Apprentice vs. Apprentice

"Are you afraid, Robin?"

The Boy Wonder blinked and stopped, turning to face Starfire, who was floating along behind him a few inches from the floor. The Tamaranean girl stopped too and gazed at him with her large green eyes.

"Afraid?" He was puzzled and both his voice and expression advertised it. "Afraid of what, Starfire?"

"Slade. And the fact that he wants to kill you, and…" She trailed off and frowned. Robin looked at her for a very long moment, holding eye contact with her.

"No."

His voice caught. He abruptly turned and carried on walking, feeling his cape brushing against the backs of his thighs.

He was afraid; of course he was. Slade was a very dangerous individual, maybe more so than the likes of even the Joker because he was quiet in his means, whereas the Joker was a show-off and deliberately attracted Batman's attention. In a showdown Slade had the upper hand, naturally; he was taller, heavier, older, more experienced in his fighting style and certainly more sadistic. And while he and Slade had established each other as an arch-nemesis' from day one, Slade had never _really_ been out to kill him. Just to have some fun with him, leading him on crazy chases, corrupting him and tricking him and beating him to within an inch of his life and then laying off. Just fun on Slade's behalf.

But the fun was over now. Slade would gain something by killing the Titans' leader, and would invariably go all out to bathe in his blood. That same Titans' leader couldn't allow himself to be killed for the simple reason that when his heart beat its last, the apocalyptic power of the Orb of Azarath was as good as summoned, and not even the remaining Titans would be able to prevent its uprising. He just couldn't let that happen, and he didn't intend to.

But he was still afraid. Slade was so like him in so many ways; the fighting style, the under-handed way of going about things, the stealth, the killer ability with a bo staff, the thought pattern, the intelligence, the speed, the mask… It was like being stalked by himself. Sort of.

_That_ scared him. If Robin himself wanted to kill, he knew he could. Easily. His dream had proved that. And Slade was no different.

But he couldn't tell the Titans that he was afraid. Not because of pride or masculinity or whatever, but because he was supposed to be the leader, the one who always had a victory plan, who never gave up and wouldn't allow anyone else to either. They were all scared for him, terrified that Slade would kill him, but _he_ was the one who had to be strong and tell them to pull themselves together, they were the Teen Titans and Slade wouldn't fulfil his prophecy because they would stop him. If _he_ didn't, then who _would?_ If he cowered and declared that he wasn't going to set foot out of Titans Tower because he was afraid that Slade was going to do him in, then they would be brought down with him, because if they saw him scared then they would invariably be scared too, thinking that there was no hope and that it was inevitable that Slade was going to murder their Boy Wonder.

"I'm not afraid, Starfire," he said firmly over his shoulder, more to convince himself than her. "And you shouldn't be either. We're going to stop him."

"Promise?" Starfire asked, her voice wavering a little. Robin turned to her again, near exasperated. How the hell could he promise such a thing? But Starfire was gazing at him still and her emerald eyes were so sad that he didn't have the heart to tell her he couldn't promise.

"I promise," he replied softly, wanting more than anything to keep it. Starfire smiled and floated a few feet over to him, landing softly and glancing around. They were in a long tunnel that stretched almost as long one way as the other, and it was carved out of ragged rock and dirt and dust. The Jump City diamond mine in all it's splendour.

_And I bet they haven't ever found a single diamond_,_ either_, Robin mused bitterly as he looked around with her.

When they had arrived there had been no sign of activity, and Robin had ordered them to split up and search the tunnels. Beast Boy was with Raven, Cyborg had ventured alone and Robin himself had teamed up with Starfire. Now the Earth boy and Tamaranean girl were traipsing along the tunnel – it felt like it was miles long – pretty much in silence. Robin actually doubted that they were going to find anything; Slade and the prophecy and the orb and the Avenger and all that jazz, they were all hot topics in Titans Tower and everyone had kind of had it on the brain for the past week. They were probably all overreacting.

"Do you think we will find anything?" Starfire inquired, as though reading his mind. Robin shrugged.

"I dunno. Maybe," he replied evasively. "But I wouldn't bet on it."

"You cannot bet, Robin," Starfire said, surprised. "You are too young."

Robin sighed.

"Figure of speech, Star," he muttered. "Just forget I said it."

Sometimes Starfire's lack of understanding American slang was a pain in the ever-loving ass.

Suddenly there was an almighty rumble; it sounded like… like a rockslide. A minor one, but still… In the middle of a makeshift diamond mine, even a minor rockslide could be dangerous.

Robin and Starfire both froze.

"Hear that?" Robin asked, feeling Starfire bump against him as they came back to back.

"Yes," Starfire answered, her hands glowing green with her alien power. They both stood still, waiting, listening.

Nothing.

"Did we… imagine it?" Starfire questioned uneasily.

"No," Robin replied quietly. "No, it was real alright…"

He felt Starfire's weight shift from his back and looked over his shoulder to see the alien girl cautiously wandering a little way down the tunnel, her hands glowing with luminous green orbs.

"Star, be careful!" Robin called after her. He whipped his staff from his belt and started after her, looking around at the walls of the tunnel for telltale cracks or loose rocks.

He had just about caught up to her when a tremendous explosion of rocks and dust erupted from the left side of the tunnel. A huge boulder burst loose in the torrent of dirt and broken rock and smashed into Starfire seconds before Robin reached her, catching her full on. She screamed as she was knocked sideways right across the narrow tunnel and the boulder crunched right through the far wall of rocks in another explosion of dust.

"STARFIRE!" Robin yelled, fighting through the cloud of dust and debris to the right side of the tunnel. The boulder had smashed a gaping hole into the wall and had broken through into a dark chamber, again carved from rock and held up by thick wooden support beams. Robin scrambled over the chunks of rock and hitched himself over the boulder, landing on the other side of it heavily.

He found Starfire lying sprawled out partly on her side, partly on her back. Her long red hair fanned out in all directions, she was covered in dust and dirt and she had some nasty cuts where her gold-tinted body was bare. Her emerald eyes were closed but she was breathing and he found a pulse with no trouble at all. She was just unconscious.

Someone wanted her out of the way, not dead.

And he could guess who.

"Star, wake up!" He said desperately, pulling her up and supporting her head on his lap. He flicked her round the face but she didn't respond. "C'mon, Starfire, I need you…"

He shook her a little, then harder as he started to panic. If that had been _him_ that boulder had hit, he would have been killed. Maybe it was an accident that it had hit Starfire instead. Being Tamaranean, Starfire's alien physiology gave her a certain degree of super strength and made her body very durable to explosions and boulders and such like. She probably wouldn't even be concussed from this little run-in.

"Starfire!" He wailed. "Star, you have to wake up! _Come on!_"

She still didn't awaken and Robin went to his belt for his communicator. He couldn't get Starfire out of here by himself, not with this boulder in his way, and now he was certain that Slade was behind this.

_Flying boulders? Terra. Duh…_

He needed back-up. Really badly.

He finished dialling Cyborg's number and held the pager in shaking hands as it started to bleep and upload…

A rock flew from the darkness and knocked his communicator out of his hand, sending it bouncing halfway across the chamber.

"As much as I'd like a team reunion, Rob, I think we'll keep this meeting to just me and you."

"Terra," Robin spat, recognising the blonde earth-mover's voice as he stood up, still gripping his staff tightly.

"Robin." Terra stepped out the shadows, a lazy smile on her pretty face. "Long time no see, huh?"

"Well, every now and then life throws something good your way, right?" Robin replied icily.

"I guess," Terra agreed airily. "Sorry I had to knock out Star, but she's such a pain in the butt sometimes…"

Robin didn't answer, but glanced quickly at the alien girl; she was still completely out of it. And with his communicator halfway across the chamber…

"Where's Slade?" He asked coldly.

"Well, you know how it is," Terra replied breezily. "He's a busy guy."

"I'm sure he is," Robin agreed with a smirk. "So he sent _you_ to kill me instead."

Terra's lazy expression flickered ever so slightly at this.

"Yeah," she confirmed eventually.

"Mmm. An apprentice showdown, huh?"

Terra frowned.

"You were never Slade's apprentice."

Robin smiled oddly.

"Yes I was. Not by choice, though. Not like you, Terra."

"And what happened? Did he kick you out?"

Terra came a little closer to him and he gripped his staff all the more tightly.

"Yeah, something like that…"

Terra smirked.

"So you weren't good enough."

"No, Slade just won't stand for disobedience. I'm sure you know that…"

She _did_ know that, and she had suffered for it, but she wasn't about to admit it to this full-of-himself jerk.

She came closer still to him and brushed a stray strand of blonde hair out of her face.

"I have to kill you, Robin," she said matter-of-factly. "The prophecy-"

"Yeah, I know all about the prophecy, thanks, Terra," Robin interrupted coolly.

_Though I doubt you do. I doubt you know everything…_

Terra smiled wryly at him and her pale blue eyes suddenly glowed like the sun, a golden yellow as she summoned her powers. The ground shook beneath the Boy Wonder's feet and he saw rocks working themselves loose from the uneven walls. Terra extended her hand towards him and the rocks shot at him like bullets; he dived into a roll, avoiding them scantly as they smashed into the ground dangerously near Starfire. He straightened up, his fists clenched, his staff still in one of his green-gloved hands.

"Don't hurt Starfire!" He snapped. "I'm the one you want!"

Terra smirked.

"Still undyingly in love with the alien, huh, Rob?" She taunted. "Some things _never_ change…"

She twisted her hand over and a rock that he had missed crunched into his side, sending him sprawling across the chamber. He dragged himself to his knees, clutching at his ribs and experiencing severe déjà vu.

_First Batman, then Slade, now Terra…_

Oh yeah; Terra was right. Some things never changed. Him getting beaten up was one of them.

Terra ripped a lump of rock out of the ground and floated over to him on it, then arranged more like steps as she descended and stood in front of him, her hands on her hips.

"Slade was right," she patronised him, looking down at him. "You _are_ pathetic."

Fast as lighting the Boy Wonder was on his feet, and before Terra even realised what had happened he had dealt her a powerful uppercut. He followed through with a dragonfly kick that threw Terra against the far wall. He landed lightly and slid into a battle stance.

Terra struggled to her feet and wiped her mouth, which was bleeding freely.

"Prick," she muttered darkly as she advanced on him again; he couldn't help but be amused by the insult. After all, _she_ was the one who was trying to kill _him_. _He_ was merely defending himself.

She made the mistake of getting too close and he caught her with a roundhouse, sending her to the floor. Instead of getting up again she merely propped herself up on her elbows and her eyes glowed yellow.

Something – a rock, more than likely – smacked into the backs of his knees, sending him off-balance. Terra realised her second mistake as he landed heavily on top of her. They wrestled on the ground in the dirt, Terra having the upper hand by shooting rock chips at his face to try and blind him. She pitched him onto his back and straddled his stomach, sitting on him contently with her knees on either side of his chest. He struggled underneath her but couldn't get her off. She smiled sweetly at him and moulded herself a pointed taper of rock, sharp like a stake. She held it in her right hand and raised it over his heart; she was going to stick it to him like he was a vampire or something.

He brought his knees up behind her and smashed her in the back, throwing her off his body head-first. Her "stake" got lost in the process and he rolled over and got to his knees as she did the same. Their eyes met and for a few seconds it was almost as though they were play-fighting.

But they weren't, and they both knew it.

They both stood, and Terra rose higher still on another platform of rock, raised her hand and more rocks flew like ravenous birds at him. He parried them off with his staff, but then the metal weapon snapped as a bigger rock came at him. It hit him in the stomach and sent him staggering backwards against the first boulder that had taken out Starfire. He crumpled and discarded the staff, desperately went to his belt, pulled out a pair of birdarangs and sent them arcing at her. She shrieked and shielded her face with her arm, and they ripped the black fabric of her long-sleeved top, baring bloody skin beneath. They clattered to the floor and Terra looked down at them in disgust; her head jerked up again as she heard Robin utter a high-pitched battle cry and too late she found him in front of her, swinging his elbow at her face. She ducked and instead he caught her by the front of her top, grasped her by the waist and threw her across the rocky chamber. The earth-mover tumbled to a halt and scrabbled to her feet, rubbing the back of her neck under the sheet of corn-coloured hair. She straightened up just as Robin threw himself into her, slamming her against the wall. Her face pressed against the sharp wall of the chamber as he twisted her arm behind her back, his mouth centimetres from her ear.

"_Tell Slade to cram it_," Robin whispered lethally, feeling strands of her long blonde hair tickling his face. He felt Terra struggle against him and pressed harder against her twisted arm. She shrieked and swore at him, calling him things much worse than "prick".

"Taught you how to curse too, has he?" Robin asked, grimly amused.

"I'll kill you," Terra spat.

A sour smile played across Robin's pale, handsome face.

"Not if I can help it, Terra."

He let go of her arm and knee-hauled her in the back. She screamed as she felt the blow from between his knee and the wall. He stepped back onto both feet and she crumpled. He thought he heard her swear at him again under her breath, but he didn't have time to contemplate it as something large and solid suddenly enclosed around his body from behind, pinning his arms to his sides. He was lifted from the ground at least two feet into the air, where he struggled and kicked against whatever was holding him.

Terra got to her feet and brushed her hair back from her face, smirking at her captive.

"Got you, Rob," she murmured. She showed him her palm, then closed it slowly and deliberately to show him what was holding him; a giant hand crafted entirely from rock. He looked down and could see the large thick fingers around his chest and arms.

"I can _crush_ you," Terra whispered. "Force the air from your lungs, break your bones, snap your spine…"

"Terra, _no_," Robin said desperately, still kicking thin air in vain. He tried to pull his arms loose but they were jammed against his sides. "You _can't_… you can't do this… you mustn't listen to Slade, Terra, he's evil…"

"He helped me. I owe him," Terra deadpanned.

"He's brainwashed you!" Robin snapped. "For Pete's sake, Terra-"

"Shut up," Terra interrupted. "What do you know about it, Robin? You're not cursed with this kind of power. Look at you; you're _normal_…"

The fingers loosened and Robin slipped from their grasp, falling back to the ground and landing on his back. He sat up and shook his head, wondering why Terra had suddenly let him go. He stood and Terra looked him up and down very slowly and purposefully. It was like she was checking him out, but he knew there was nothing sexual there; it was an odd thought, but Terra was _jealous_ of him. Jealous of the fact that he was normal. He didn't know why; he would gladly have swapped. It was a pain in the ass not having any powers, especially in situations like this.

"You're so… _normal_…" Terra said again, her expression mournful. "You don't know what it's like, you just take it for granted… you wouldn't want this kind of curse, Robin. Even if you don't want to believe _me_, you could just ask Raven and she'd tell you…"

"Do you realise how _lame_ it is being the only one on the team without any powers?" Robin countered.

"Wanna swap?" Terra mocked.

"Yeah, ok…"

Terra looked at him again for a very long time.

"You have no idea what you're saying," she told him eventually. "You might want powers… I just want to be like _you_. _Normal_, Robin. That might sound incredible, but I'd give _anything_ to just be a normal kid."

"There's nothing to stop you-" Robin started.

"Yes there is!" Terra cried. She brandished her gloved palms at him. "_This_ is! This _curse!_"

"If you stay with Slade, then it will be a curse forevermore," Robin said coldly. "You were a Titan, Terra. You had the chance to use your "curse" to help those who needed it, but you threw it away. I just don't understand."

"How could you?" Terra mused with a bitter smile. She turned away from him.

"Beast Boy doesn't understand either."

Terra gasped and whipped around to face him again, speechless.

"He thought he knew you best," Robin went on icily, seeing he had touched a nerve. "He thought he could trust you; we _all_ did, but he… he _loved_ you, Terra. I think he still does, despite everything. Despite the fact that you betrayed us to Slade. But I guess Raven was right…"

"SHUT UP!" Terra suddenly screamed. The huge hand clenched into a fist and Terra's eyes glowed gold. Before Robin could even block the massive fist punched him full on, the blow throwing him across the room. He smacked against the far wall and crumpled, fighting blackness. He moaned and shook his head to clear it, then hauled himself shakily to his feet, his palms flat against the wall behind him for support.

"Don't you start lecturing me about all that crap, Rob," Terra said dangerously as she very slowly approached him. "You don't know the half of it… you were too busy snooping around with Raven…" She forced a laugh. "Jeez, is it any wonder I betrayed you when you all didn't trust me in the _first place!_"

"Beast Boy did," Robin reminded her.

"Beast Boy, _Beast Boy_, BEAST BOY!" Terra shrieked. "What _are_ you, a broken record?"

She came to a halt right in front of him and looked down at him, for she was a little bit taller than him. Then she slowly reached out and grasped hold of his wrists, squeezing them tightly beneath her long gloved fingers. He tried to break her grip and she smiled at him and suddenly wrenched them upwards, bringing up both his arms to above his head. She slapped his wrists against the wall and her eyes glowed once more and suddenly snakes of rock burst from the wall, looped over his wrists and plunged back into where they had come from. She let go of him and he tried to move his wrists away from the wall and realised in horror that he was now shackled, unable to move his arms.

"What do you know about Beast Boy, really?" Terra went on as though nothing had happened, even though he wasn't really listening anymore as he was too occupied with trying to pull away from the wall. "You guys all think he's some kind of joke because he doesn't take anything seriously."

"He took _you_ seriously, Terra," Robin said softly, surprising her. "You don't realise what your betrayal did to him."

Terra bit her lip and said nothing.

Robin stopped trying to escape and watched her intently.

"Why did you do it?" He questioned. "We took you in, we offered you friendship and a membership in the Titans… Wasn't that all you ever wanted? Acceptance and friendship?"

"There's more to it than that," Terra said eventually. "You just don't get it."

"No, I don't," Robin agreed. "None of us do, not even B.B, and he thought you had told him everything."

"I did at first, and he blabbed," Terra said bitterly. "I told him I couldn't control my powers and he promised not to tell but he _did_; he told _you_."

"No he didn't," Robin said, exasperated. "I worked it out on my own; it wasn't too hard to figure out, really…"

Terra flushed red.

"Shut up!" She snapped. "What would _you_ know about it!"

"More than you'd think. I figured you were up to something when you made your sudden reappearance, and so did Raven."

"Raven never liked me anyway."

"Well, she might have done if you hadn't sold us to Slade," Robin said, irritated. Terra glared at him, her blue eyes boring into his own concealed beneath his mask; both his and hers were blue, but they were so different. Terra's were a pale forget-me-not hue, while Robin's own were a very deep fused azure-lagoon-sapphire colour.

"I wouldn't get too cocky, Rob," Terra taunted. "You're kinda stuck at the moment…"

"Just what I was going to say," Robin replied with a smirk. Terra looked puzzled… until he suddenly kicked his legs up and wrapped them around her waist, exerting his weight on his shackled arms. He pulled her right into him, crushing her thin frame to his. He dug one of his metal heels into the small of her back and she shrieked with pain, her fingers digging painfully into his thighs as she tried to get free. Her eyes glowed amber and suddenly a rock jutted out of the wall and smacked him on the back of the head, almost knocking him senseless. He released her and she fell to the floor in a heap.

"Good one, Robin," she complimented him breathlessly. "_Too good_…"

Too late he realised she had shackled his ankles as well, making him completely immobile. A familiar feeling of panic began an invasion of his senses as his mind cast him back to midnight in a darkened asylum, where he found himself pinned by his wrists and ankles, naked and terrified and knowing what was inevitably going to happen to him…

She watched him struggle desperately and smiled.

"Jeez, Rob, what's got into you?" She asked softly. "You aren't scared of your old friend Terra, are you?..."

She ventured close to him again and pressed her ear to his chest; she could hear his heart thundering, feel it slamming against his ribcage. She placed her hand gently over his "R" badge.

"Your poor heart, it's working overtime… maybe I should put it out of it's misery…"

He suddenly felt a sharp pain in his back as Terra summoned another pointed stake of rock from the wall. It pierced into his flesh a little way then stopped. It stung like hell and he could feel blood dripping from the wound down his back. It was directly beneath his heart.

Terra smiled and drummed her fingers lightly on his badge.

"Does that hurt, Rob?" She mocked him. "Shall I push it deeper?"

She did so and he moaned in agony. He took deep breaths to combat it but he couldn't block the pain.

"Terra, don't do this…" he groaned. "Don't listen to Slade… don't let him… turn you into a murderer…"

Terra put her finger to his lips.

"Be quiet, it'll be over soon… Slade can fulfil his precious prophecy…"

"He'll go to any lengths…" Robin agreed breathlessly before giving way to another groan. "Terra… please… oh, god… you don't _understand_… you don't understand what he's _done_…"

The stake forced its way into him a little further again and Terra toyed with his fringe as he fought not to scream.

"Scream if you want to, Robin," she invited him. "Go on, let it out. Scream this whole mine down…"

Terra was killing him and all the while Starfire was just lying there, not realising that the boy she loved was moments from death…

He gave in and screamed as Terra pushed it in another few millimetres. It was absolute torture and he didn't know how far it was from his heart.

"Terra, stop…" he pleaded. "Please, _stop_…"

Terra seemed to have given up taunting him.

"I can't," she whispered. "I have to kill you... The prophecy…"

"Have you _read_ the prophecy!" Robin shrieked. "Do you realise what he _did _to me… in aid of his freaking prophecy?"

Terra frowned.

"No, he said I just have to kill you, and the mortal gods-"

Robin's head jerked up.

"_He **raped** me, Terra!_" He yelled at her. "Do you realise that! Did he tell you that? Or is he keeping it a secret?"

Terra stared at him, utterly speechless.

"You're lying, " she said eventually.

"Yeah?" Robin forced a pained smirk. "Go read the translation of the prophecy, and then you'll see if I'm lying or not."

"He wouldn't…"

"He would. And he _did_."

"No he didn't! You're lying, Robin, to get me to let you go! Well, it's not working!"

"Terra, you can't kill me… you _can't_ give him what he wants…"

"Yes I can…"

"Terra… _oh, god_… Terra, you can't, _you can't_…"

He drew another gasping breath, his head bowed and his eyes squeezed shut behind his mask.

"You don't realise… what will happen if I die… there'll be no-one to stop him… he'll destroy the world… Terra, you _can't _help him succeed that…"

"I have to. I haven't got a choice…"

She sounded close to tears now.

"He owns me, Robin. I vowed I would serve him, I pledged my allegiance to him… you don't understand, I _can't_ betray him. He told me to kill you and I have to do as he says…"

"But Terra…" He moaned again, gritting his teeth. "Terra, this isn't just about _my_ death… he's told you, he must have… about the prophecy… about the Avenger… about the power he'll harness. You _can't_ let him have it. You're not evil, Terra… Beast Boy says you aren't and I believe him… you have to do what's right… you _can't_ kill me…"

"And he raped you."

Even through the tearful break in her voice she sounded sceptical.

Robin forced himself to look up at her. She didn't understand what it cost him to admit that to _her_, when he couldn't even bring himself to talk about it with his friends. But Terra was Slade's apprentice; in a way she had a right to know. If Slade could bring himself to rape Robin, his similarly-gendered arch-nemesis, then it would surely be simpler for him to rape Terra too, if the thought ever crossed his mind. Terra was female, she was pretty, and he was in constant contact with her; what was to say he hadn't had his way with her already?...

"Yes." Robin heaved another ragged breath. "He might not… admit it to you, but he did…"

Their eyes met, Robin's conveying a silent warning to her that Slade might have developed a taste for rape, and that if he had, _she_ was the one he would victimise.

Terra touched his sweaty face.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. Her eyes glowed and he closed his eyes again, expecting the bloody stake to come bursting through his "R" badge in a shower of crimson rain. Instead he felt the pointed rock withdraw from his body and merge back into the wall. Then he suddenly collapsed to the floor as the shackles released him.

"I'm not going to kill you," Terra stated softly, as though her actions needed an explanation. He grunted in pain and staggered to his feet; his shirt was stuck to his back, soaked in blood, but he'd survive as long as he found Raven before he collapsed from blood loss.

"What are you… gonna do?" He asked, seeing her fists were clenched. Terra sighed.

"I don't know…"

"Come back… with me," he said. "Come and be a Titan again…"

Terra turned away.

"Robin, I can't," she said, tears evident in her voice. "We both know that… I can't ever go back. I've wrecked it."

"Show us… we can trust you, and we will…"

Terra shook her blonde-maned head violently.

"No, Robin… I just can't… I'm sorry. I guess I was just never meant to be a Titan…"

She started to walk away back to the boulder with which she had made her entrance. With some difficultly Robin caught up to her and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Where will you go?" He asked quietly.

"Back to Slade," Terra answered after a moment's hesitation.

"Terra, no…"

"You don't understand, Robin. I can't leave him. He owns me…"

Robin slid his hand off her shoulder. He couldn't see how anyone could allow themselves to be owned by Slade; _he_ certainly hadn't.

Terra started to walk away again, then stopped suddenly. Puzzled, Robin went after her again and came to a halt behind her.

"Robin? Would you… do something for me?..." Terra asked softly, not turning around to face him.

"Depends what it is," Robin replied coolly, quirking an eyebrow. Terra laughed slightly, almost shyly.

"Nothing much, just…"

She didn't finish her sentence, just let it hang in the air as she slowly turned around to face him. Her eyes were glowing and he immediately clenched his fists.

Suddenly his height increased by a couple of inches as Terra rose the ground beneath him. His lips brushed hers accidentally and before he could pull away she wrapped her arms tightly around him and pulled him into a full-on passionate kiss. Her eyes were squeezed tightly shut and she was clinging to him as if she would never let him go. He simply stood there locked in her grip, rigid with shock.

Terra's grip on him loosened and she pulled away from him; she looked extremely upset.

"_Respond_, idiot!" She wailed in frustration, tears in her large blue eyes. She shook him slightly and he just stared at her, his masked eyes wide.

"For Pete's sake, _kiss back!_" Terra snapped. "You must know _how!_"

Robin blinked, then tried to push her away. Once upon a time kissing had been one of his favourite past-times, but now just the _thought_ of it reminded him of…

Anyway, what the hell was _Terra_ doing kissing _him?_

"Look, Terra, when you asked for a favour, I really didn't think-"

"_Just do it!_" Terra shrieked. "I don't care… shut your eyes and pretend I'm Starfire… whatever, just _kiss back!_"

He tried to step back but her arms were still around him and she pulled him back into her and got him into another lip-lock. Her eyes slid closed but this time she didn't cling to him grim-death; she started to run her hands over his body instead. He struggled but his strength was gone due to his wound; his own eyes closed and he imagined her as Slade instead and put his hands on her shoulders, tried to push her off but didn't succeed. He really, _really_ didn't want this… every movement of her fingers over his tight clothing, he hated it; in his mind he was in Arkham and succumbing to that desire that wasn't his… He wanted her to stop… oh, how badly he wanted her to _stop_…

He didn't realise he was kissing back until he felt Terra tilt her head more to the side and thrust her tongue into his. He opened his eyes but hers were still shut and he saw her… and stopped thinking she was Slade. He didn't need to pretend she was Starfire, or Raven, or Poison Ivy…

But he still didn't know why she was so desperate to kiss him, or why she considered this a favour.

He stopped being so rigid and loosened up and touched her, felt her silky soft blonde hair brushing on his arms where they were bare as he caressed her back, squeezed her shoulders. He shouldn't have been doing this; Beast Boy loved Terra, and Robin himself could get Starfire anytime he wanted and could probably seduce Raven too if he felt like it, and if he was ever really desperate he could always stalk Kitten… he didn't need this, and he didn't deserve it, and he was being greedy, he knew that… Terra had started it and now he was only obliged to finish it, he couldn't stop himself and that old Robert Palmer song, _Addicted to Love_, one of Bruce's favourites, came to mind…

_Oh, you like to think that you're immune to the stuff_

_Oh yeah…_

_It's closer to the truth to say you can't get enough_

_You know you're gonna have to face it, you're addicted to love…_

And there was a line; _Your will is not your own…_

Terra slid her hands up his back, avoiding the wound she had created, into his hair. She teased the spikes and stroked her fingers over his hairline and down the side of his face and he kissed more deeply at the touch. Terra returned the favour and her fingertips touched his ears; her eyes opened and she stopped and released him, breathing heavily. She smiled weakly at him as he watched her intently, his eyebrows knitted together. His chest was heaving with every breath, taxed by both the ravenous kissing and the wound in his back. He slowly and deliberately wiped his mouth on the wrist of his green glove, not taking his eyes off her.

"Robin…" Terra looked at the floor, then looked up again, her expression desperate. "That kiss… it wasn't for you…"

Robin blinked.

"Sorry?"

"It wasn't for you…" She smiled apologetically; then it faded. "It was for Beast Boy… the night I left the Titans, B.B and I spent the evening at the fairground and we almost kissed but… we didn't…"

"_That _was the favour?" Robin asked weakly. He scowled. "I am _not_ passing that on!"

_I've had enough of homosexual "indulgence" to last a lifetime, thanks…_

"I'm not asking you to… I just…" She looked at him, then averted her eyes again. "Just tell him for me… tell him I kissed you and that it was for him…"

_And get my head bitten off. Literally._

Robin sighed.

"Ok, I'll tell him…"

Terra smiled.

"Thankyou, Robin… and thankyou for kissing back…"

She turned away and walked off, effortlessly moving the boulder aside.

"And it wasn't for _you_," she reminded him, looking briefly at him before vanishing into the tunnel beyond.

_Yeah, I know…_

He retrieved his pager and walked back to the still-unconscious Starfire, plonking himself down beside her. He could only imagine the fireworks if she had come round in the middle of his little rendezvous with Terra…

He sent a signal to the others, feeling a knot of guilt in the pit of his belly as he signalled Beast Boy and sent him the coordinates.

Then he realised. He touched his left ear with his fingertips. It was curved, normal… Terra had broken off the kiss after she had felt that.

The kiss had been for Beast Boy.

It had never occurred to the Boy Wonder that Terra had been pretending _he was_ Beast Boy…

* * *

Yeah, B.B is _not_ gonna be best pleased with Wonder Boy now… _When_ he finds out. Which will be pretty soon.

So poor Robin gets himself into _more_ trouble…

It's all fun, really…

R&R and I'll get the next chapter, _Heart of Stone_, up sooner than I did this one!

Happy New Year to all!

- RobinRocks x


	4. Heart of Stone

15 reviews already; not bad, not bad…

A massive long author note is something I can't be bothered with today, so I'm just gonna unceremoniously fling the chapter at you and hope you enjoy it.

Um, who reviewed? I think… Phoenix Skyborne, YamiTai, Rocky Wolf; Timber Fox, Daybreak 25 and ThrillZone.

Thankyou all very much. Narroch06 should be around here somewhere, and Quinn and His Quill is sulking because I get more reviews than him. Life's good...

Yeah, hope you all like… It has Terra in it… No! Come back! **COME BACK!**

_Sigh…_

Heart of Stone

Terra burst into the huge empty room, beams of coloured light from the tall stained glass windows above near blinding her as she stormed up the length of the room. Her blonde hair was streaked across her face, obscuring her vision slightly, but she didn't brush it away. Her blue eyes were narrowed, her pretty mouth was set, her fists were clenched.

She was furious.

Slade looked up as he heard his apprentice bang the doors open and enter. He rose from his throne-like chair and his single icy grey eye sent her a silent greeting.

Terra didn't return it.

"I trust your mission was a success?" He inquired softly.

Terra didn't reply until she had reached him, and even then didn't speak, only looked up at him defiantly.

"Well, Terra?" Slade pressed, getting irritated. He ran his gaze over her. "You're not as bloody as I would have liked. Did you decide against a messy death?"

Silence.

Then;

"I didn't do it."

Slade's eye widened, then narrowed almost instantly. He turned away from her briefly.

"I'm sorry, dear apprentice… for a second there I thought you said that…" He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "…That you didn't do it, implying that you didn't follow orders." He whipped around and grasped her wrist. "_Implying, Terra, that you didn't kill him!_"

She cried out in pain as he gripped her skinny wrist so tightly he threatened to break the bones.

"_Well?_"

She gritted her teeth and forced herself to look at him.

"No… I didn't…"

He swore obscenely at her and threw her to the floor.

"_And why not?_" He shouted at her. "Did he appeal to your better nature? Did he beg for his life, or did he guilt-trip you into sparing him because of the fate of the universe? _And why did you let him go?_"

"Because I'm not like you!" Terra screamed back at him from where she lay on the floor. "I'm not evil! He's one of the good guys… I don't care if he didn't ever trust me, I'm not going to kill him! _And you can't make me!_"

"Terra, he _isn't_ your friend anymore, _none_ of them are, not even the shape-shifter. _How_ can I make you understand that?"

"I shouldn't have ever betrayed them! I shouldn't have gone with you… I should have stayed with the Titans; they were my _real_ friends!"

"And if you had stayed, you would probably have killed them all by now by an accidental mudslide," Slade added heartlessly. "You were right to come with me, Terra. I have taught you to control your powers. And I notice that, even for all your talk about you not being like me, that you should have stayed with the Titans… you came back to me."

Terra sniffled.

"I don't have anywhere else to go."

"Nowhere but _here_," Slade prompted. He laughed softly. "You're a monster, Terra, an outcast. You belong with _me_."

"Only because you turned me against them."

Slade laughed still.

"Then go back to them, my dear. Go back to them, and see what happens…"

"Robin offered, and I-"

Slade's expression hardened again.

"Oh, yes," he interrupted. "_Robin._ Which brings us back to the matter at hand."

Terra didn't reply, but looked at the floor, on which she was still lying. Her lips tingled slightly at the mention of Robin's name. He was a good kisser; she couldn't help but wonder if the _real _Beast Boy was that good. Robin had it down to a fine art, enough tongue to be interesting, but not so much that he was suffocating her, and it had flavour and a unique style like a signature, and he remembered to breathe, and he had tasted really quite pleasant, sort of sweet like he'd been drinking soda or Coke. He was brilliant, to be frank, and she had noticed that even though she had been pretending that he wasn't the Boy Wonder, but Beast Boy instead.

In fact it had been _Slade_ who had wrecked her almost-first-kiss with the green-skinned shape-shifter.

She looked up at him.

Hated him.

"So, the Avenger still lives?" Slade forced himself to laugh. "Well, really, I don't know why I'm surprised. He's been wriggling out of extremely tight holes from day one…"

"But there was one hole he couldn't wriggle out of," Terra murmured. "One hole that was a little _too_ tight and he got stuck…"

Slade blinked. Looked at her. Frowned.

"Excuse me?"

This time it was Terra's turn to force a laugh from herself.

"I _can't believe_ you didn't _tell_ me…"

"Tell you what? I believe I informed you all that was necessary…"

"You… oh my god, I can't believe you actually _did it_…"

Slade felt his blood run cold. How could she possibly know…?

"Did… what?"

"You… you _raped_ him…" Terra looked up at him. "For the prophecy, you actually… _raped_ him…"

He stared at her. _How_ in _hell_ had she found out?...

He looked at her and couldn't speak. He _hated_ Robin, wanted him dead, yes… but he was ashamed of the deed. Of course he was. It was a terrible sin to commit upon anyone, but it had been brutal, homosexual and therefore even more traumatic, it had hurt _him_; gods knows how it had hurt Robin… It had been mechanical, terrifyingly cast in darkness, and had been committed for a truly evil and selfish reason. He hadn't wanted to do it. But he had. And he was ashamed.

"How _could_ you?" Terra whispered. "Jeez… I mean, how could you _actually_ bring yourself to…?"

She shuddered as she imagined it.

"It wasn't… like that, Terra," Slade started weakly. "You don't get it, I didn't do it because I _wanted_ to…"

"But you did it anyway," Terra said icily. "I can't believe it; I _didn't_ believe it at first. I didn't _want_ to. I mean, god… my mentor, _a rapist?_ I never would have thought you… I mean, you come across as though you have better things to do with your time."

"I'm not going to deny it, Terra," Slade murmured, "because I _did_ do it. But you believed him straight off. How do you know he wasn't lying to you to get you to let him go?"

"I _did _think that at first," Terra admitted. "But he wasn't lying, Slade, I just knew he wasn't. He was telling the truth; he was nearly in tears, although that could have been because I was skewering him with a rock at the time…"

Slade snorted with laughter and Terra frowned.

"It's not funny. I could have _killed_ him…"

"Which is what you were _supposed_ to do," Slade reminded her irritably. "That's what I _ordered_ you to do."

"Well, I didn't. And I'm not going to. He told me about the prophecy, more than _you_ ever did… You want this power the Orb of Azarath holds, but I don't think you realise what will happen if you get it."

"Yes, I do. I'll be all-powerful, Terra, and absolutely unstoppable. I will rule this world, and there'll be no Teen Titans to stop me, and no Robin to wreck _every single wretched plan I come up with!_"

"Then kill him yourself," Terra said icily. "_I'm_ not doing it."

Slade glared at her, was about to fire back-

"Not interrupting anything, am I?"

Slade looked up at the sound of that voice he had grown to recognise – and despise. Terra on the other hand looked confused and turned her head. Both set eyes – eye in Slade's case – on the seer.

She looked a little different to the last time he had seen her. Her long grey hair was coiled into a messy bun instead of free over her hunched shoulders, and she wore only a single string of red glass beads instead of the reams of cheap plastic ones around her neck. She wore a black silk alb, and thrown over her shoulders was a deep shawl of emerald green to match her wicked eyes, fastened with a gothic brooch of wrought silver and black amethysts. She was leaning on a staff again crafted from wrought silver, and it was gothically patterned and beautiful. She looked infinitely more mysterious and seer-like than she had the first time they had met; that time in the museum she had looked like the creepy outcast lost on a trip from the old folk's home.

"A pleasure to see you again, my boy," she said pleasantly, her voice cool and calm. She made her way up the room, her metal staff tapping rhythmically. Terra uttered a stifled gasp of awe, while Slade folded his arms and watched her as she approached.

"The key?" He stated rather than asked as she came to a halt. The seer ignored him and looked down at Terra, whose blonde hair had fallen partly across her pretty face.

"You must be Terra," the old woman murmured, and she smiled as though she was a grandmother looking upon a beloved granddaughter. "Stand up, my dear; don't lie there as though you are unworthy to stand beside your master."

Terra pushed her hair out of her face and got to her feet. The seer's smiled broadened as she looked at the earth-mover.

"A truly valuable asset to your cause, Mr Slade," she stated ominously of Terra. "Truly valuable… a diamond, unpolished at present, but she will be beautiful, she will shine and make you proud, even if it does not seem likely at the moment."

Slade didn't answer, knowing that she was referring to the fact that Terra had refused to fulfil her duty and kill Robin. She truly _did_ know everything.

"Yes, it does seem unlikely," he agreed coldly. "I am most displeased with her at the moment."

Terra looked at the floor.

"Don't be. The Avenger still lives. Be happy. I received another revelation that foretold that your apprentice would not be the one to deal him his death, but instead I have the weapon which you must use…"

Slade sighed heavily.

"Will you _stop_ changing your mind!" He said, exasperated. The seer smiled strangely and said nothing, instead reached beneath the folds of her silk robe and produced an arrow. She handed it to him and he examined it.

The tip was crafted from sharp highly polished silver, and the flight was structured from strong black feathers - raven or rook, he guessed – and the actual shaft was not wood as was usually typical, but a tube of thin glass, and around it twisted a silver serpent from the tip to the tail of the arrow. Inside the tube coiled some kind of substance, not quite gas and not quite liquid, but somewhere – impossibly – in-between, and it was a very dark red, deeper than blood or wine but far from burgundy.

"What is this?" He breathed, as he twisted it over in his grip.

"A very special arrow I have crafted especially for the purpose of killing the Avenger," the seer replied smugly. "Shoot him directly in the heart."

"And he'll die?"

The seer smiled twistedly.

"Oh, yes. It might take a while, but death with most certainly follow, and it will not be pleasant." She looked fixedly at him. "You'll need a bow. Do you have one?"

"No, but I'm sure I can obtain one from somewhere."

"Do you know how to shoot?"

"Roughly. I'll need some practice."

"Yes, you will. It has to be directly in the heart, understand? _Directly in the heart_, or it won't work."

"What won't work?" He inquired.

"You'll see, my boy…" She nodded curtly at the arrow in his hands. "I think you'll like it… Now, the moon is full in three days from now. I'm not really one for superstition but I think you would be better to do it on that day. That gives you three days practice."

"Right."

The seer clapped her hands together in a business-like way and nodded.

"I'll return at midnight on the third day. Have it done by then."

She smiled once more at Terra, nodded to Slade, turned on her heel and walked out, her stride quite powerful as though she didn't really need her staff.

Slade looked down at the arrow again and smiled behind his mask. Then he too turned and made his way out.

"What about me?" Terra called after him.

Slade paused.

"You're dismissed," he said finally. "Go to your chamber, go outside, I don't care… Just get out of my sight and don't bother me unless I call for you."

He left.

Terra broke down and cried.

Wishing she had gone back with Robin.

Wishing she hadn't betrayed them in the first place.

Wishing she could be free, powerless and _normal_; instead of living this trapped existence within a heart of stone.

* * *

Ugh, lame ending; so lame… Hope you all liked it, though. Sorry for so much Terra/Slade interaction, but it's necessary. Robin and the Titans are back next chapter, and…

…Drumroll…

_Robin tells Beast Boy about the kiss from Terra!_

So stay tuned for some… um, Titan-ic action… _blah_, that was bad…

Same bat-time! Same bat-channel!

- RobinRocks, the washed-out-at-present Boy-love Wonder xXx


	5. Boulevard of Broken Dreams

Whoop! I take _waaay_ too long updating these days…

So long, in fact, I can't actually remember who reviewed. So I'll go with my usuals; Phoenix Skyborne (sorry to hear that you don't like Robin and Raven together. It IS relevant, though, I promise); YamiTai (no, Roy doesn't shoot the arrow, but he will in fact be in this storyline a bit later on); Narroch06; Rocky Wolf, Daybreak25; TimberFox and Thrillzone.

And Quinn and His Quill, who doesn't review anymore. Maximus SO pawned that sword… And AutumnDynasty, if you're reading this; happy 17th birthday for today, Friday 20th January!

Whoo-hoo!

BB and Robin fight time now! What you've all been waiting for!

Place your bets and enjoy!

Boulevard of Broken Dreams

"_Terra?_" Cyborg asked incredulously, folding his huge metal arms. "Robbie, you're sure?"

"_Ouch_…" Robin winced and nodded, pushing his cape, which was draped over his head instead of down his back, up out of his face.

"Yeah, it was her…"

"Definitely," Raven agreed flatly. "There are rock chips in here… Robin, you're going to have to take your shirt off…"

Robin sighed and nodded again, then gripped his cape and tugged it off over his head. He threw it aside, unbuttoned his red shirt and pulled that off too, baring his chest. He grunted in pain as Raven touched the wound in his back with her fingertips.

"This is nasty," Raven murmured. "And deep. Any further and it would have pierced a major artery travelling to the heart. You'd have bled to death."

"Mm." Robin winced again as she took some antiseptic wipes and started to clean it up.

"Jeez, Robin, I thought this cape of yours was supposed to be made of some super-strong material," Cyborg acknowledged, examining the yellow and black cape and poking a metal finger through the hole in it.

"Highly dense plasmarized titanium, ten times stronger than steel," Robin rattled off. He flinched once again. "_Ouch_… well, it's _supposed_ to be…"

Cyborg sighed and picked up Robin's blood-soaked shirt too.

"I'll get you a clean one," he muttered. He turned and walked out of the sick bay.

The five of them – now four – were all in the large white room, Robin perched on the metal examining table with Raven behind him cleaning up the wound before she healed it; Starfire was lying on one of the beds, still fully-clothed and still out of it – Cyborg had carried her back to the Tower – while Beast Boy was sitting cross-legged on the bed next to her, a frown on his green face. He hadn't spoken at all, which was, to say the least, extremely unusual for the shape-shifter.

"I'm going to have to take out the rock splinters," Raven told him. "This'll hurt…"

Robin nodded and gripped the edges of the table in his green-gloved hands. He heard Raven murmur her spell beneath her breath and felt her dark magic entering his wound and suddenly it started to bleed freely again as the tiny splinters of rock were ripped from where they were lodged within his flesh. He breathed in sharply and felt Raven lay her cool hand on his bare shoulder to calm him.

"There; done," Raven said softly, showing him her outstretched palm. On it were tiny bloody chips of rock. He nodded and looked away.

"You're very brave," she went on, squeezing his shoulder.

"Get off," he said coolly. Raven paused, as though debating retaliating, then withdrew her hand.

A very uncomfortable silence reigned. Eventually Raven picked up another wipe and cleaned off the fresh blood, while Beast Boy just watched the scene unfold. Every time Robin looked at him he felt increasingly guilty, and wanted to get it off his chest ASAP. He made a mental note to get Beast Boy alone and "pass on" Terra's message.

Cyborg returned with a fresh cape and shirt and Raven patted the metal table next to Robin to show the half-robot where to put them. Cyborg obliged and stepped back as Raven placed both her hands over Robin's wound, muttered her spell, worked her magic and healed it completely.

"There you go, all done," she said brightly, slapping his bare shoulder "playfully" as she brushed past him.

"Ouch!" He said sharply, putting his hand to it. She smirked at him and pulled up her hood.

"I'm going to my room, if anyone else needs me…" she said, starting to leave.

"What about Starfire?" Robin asked, pulling on his clean shirt.

"She's fine. She doesn't need healing; just rest," Raven replied. She swept out of the room, her long cloak trailing behind her. Robin looked sideways at Cyborg as he buttoned his shirt and tucked it in. He finished with his cape, tugging it straight as Cyborg grinned and shrugged in response.

"_So_… Terra, huh?" Cyborg asked carefully. Robin glanced at the unconscious Starfire.

"Yeah," he replied, leaning against the metal table and folding his arms. Beast Boy looked up and his ears twitched.

"But she let you go, didn't she?" He reminded the Boy Wonder. "I mean, she obviously hurt you, but she didn't kill you."

Robin shook his head.

"No. She was _going_ to, but… she didn't…"

"She's confused, that girl," Cyborg stated. "She could have been a great Titan… I mean, she _was_… but she chucked us."

"Yeah," Beast Boy said sadly. "I don't think she really gets how evil Slade is. She doesn't really realise that he's corrupted her. She thinks he was doing her a favour."

"The thing is, B.B, Slade _did_ do her a favour," Robin went on. "He trained her to control her powers. She can't help but be grateful to him for that. But Cy's right; I don't think she understands what she's gotten herself into. I mean, she was _killing_ me; she really was. But she was doing it slowly, and I don't think it was cruelty. I think it was because she couldn't bring herself to actually push the thing through my heart and finish me."

Beast Boy and Cyborg nodded.

"And then, when I told her what would happen if she _did_ kill me… well, she let me go. What more proof do you need? Terra isn't bad, but she's never had any security in life and I guess she sees Slade as some kind of shelter from the world. She went with him because he promised her something she really wanted, and he kept his promise to her, so now she feels she has to keep _her_ promise to _him_. I told her to come back, I said that we would trust her again if she gave us a reason to, but she declined."

Beast Boy's ears flattened.

"_Why?_" He asked softly.

"Because Slade owns her, apparently." Robin pulled a face to show what he thought of _that_ ownership. "She says she can't leave him."

"We have to do something," Beast Boy said firmly. "We have to get her back, and we have to break his hold on her. I _know_ we can save her, guys."

Robin and Cyborg both nodded.

"I think we can too, " Robin agreed. "But Terra's going to have to wait for the time being. Right now our main priority is the prophecy, and the Orb of Azarath. Terra might be a link."

Cyborg nodded again.

"Right. Good thinking, Robbie."

Robin looked guiltily at Beast Boy, wondering whether now was the right time to mention…

He decided against it for the time being. It wasn't fair on Beast Boy – he knew the shape-shifter wasn't going to take it well, even though the kiss had been intended for him – with Cyborg knocking around as well. He needed to get Beast Boy alone, and now just wasn't the time.

"Who's up for some combat practice?" He asked brightly. Cyborg frowned.

"You sure you're up for it?" He asked sceptically. Robin flexed his shoulder muscles and breathed out heavily.

"Yeah, I feel fine," he assured his friend. "Coming, Beast Boy?"

Beast Boy nodded his agreement and the three boys headed for the sick bay door, Robin leading the way.

"You sure it's ok to leave Star?" Beast Boy questioned, thumbing at the alien girl.

"Yeah, you heard Ray, she'll be ok," Cyborg replied. Robin nodded in agreement and the three of them left for the gym.

* * *

"Hey, I got us some drinks…"

Robin and Cyborg looked up to see Beast Boy re-entering the gym, two cans of root beer in one hand and a glass bottle of soy chocolate milkshake in the other. He threw the root beers to Cyborg and Robin, who caught them. Robin held his can to his sweaty forehead for a few seconds, then opened it and took a long drink to quench his thirst. He pulled a face and Cyborg grinned as he followed the Boy Wonder's example.

"_Mouthwash_," they stated simultaneously. Robin frowned at the amber liquid in his can.

"How can anybody actually _like_ a drink that tastes like mouthwash?" He asked incredulously, the question rhetorical. He took another drink, only because he was so hot and thirsty.

"I dunno," Cyborg agreed. "Reminds me of the dentist. I definitely prefer Coke."

"You drank it all this morning," Beast Boy reminded them. "Remember, while _I_ was trying to rescue my eggs!"

"Your _fake_ eggs," Cyborg muttered.

Robin could see another argument starting up and intervened. He took his staff from his belt.

"Who's gonna take me on, then?" He asked with a grin. Cyborg put him arms up in surrender.

"No way, man," he said quickly. "You've already kicked my can three times. You're too damn small and fast for me."

"I will," Beast Boy offered, cracking his knuckles. Robin raised his eyebrows.

"Ok, B.B, but no biting, scratching, crushing, spitting, chasing or swallowing whole, ok?"

"You suck the fun out of everything, Robbie," Beast Boy muttered in response.

"I'm outta here, guys," Cyborg said. "See y'all later…"

Robin and Beast Boy nodded and started their work-out.

Fifteen minutes later found Robin pinned underneath a huge green lion, weaponless and exhausted.

"Ok, I give," Robin said, his breathing heavy. "You win, B.B… let me up."

The lion licked his face and shrank back to it's usual form; a grinning Beast Boy.

"Dude, I _totally_ kicked your _butt!_" Beast Boy whooped, leaping lightly off his friend. Robin sat up, wiping his face on his green glove.

"Thanks for that, Beast Boy," he muttered darkly.

"No problem," Beast Boy replied, offering Robin a hand. The Boy Wonder accepted it and Beast Boy pulled him to his feet.

"C'mon, let's go get us some chow," the shape-shifter went on. "I'm starving. We've been in here nearly all day…"

He started to leave and Robin realised with a start that now was probably the best time to mention…

"You comin', Wonder Boy?" Beast Boy asked, looking over his shoulder.

"Actually, B.B… there _was_ something I kinda wanted to talk to you about…" Robin murmured. Beast Boy frowned.

"Like what?"

"Well, um… it's about… Terra," Robin said, running a hand through his spiky ebony hair. Beast Boy's green eyes widened.

"What about her?" He asked, his voice taking on a high-pitched edge. "She's alright, isn't she?"

"Oh… yeah… yeah, she's fine…" Robin said hurriedly, nodding. "Really, B.B, she's fine…"

"Then what's the problem?" Beast Boy asked, his expression suspicious.

"Well… uhh…" Robin looked around the gym, rubbing one arm subconsciously with his other hand. He really didn't feel comfortable here, for some reason.

"Could we go somewhere else?" He asked. "I dunno…" He wracked his brain for somewhere they wouldn't be disturbed. "The roof?"

Beast Boy still looked sceptical.

"The _roof?_"

"Yeah, if that's ok with you… I like looking at the city at night-time…"

Beast Boy shrugged, thinking that his friend was acting very oddly. Well, he _always_ acted oddly, but _now_ he was breaking his own record.

They left the gym and made their way through the Tower to the roof. Robin stepped out first and breathed in deeply. It was just starting to get dark and the sunset was casting gorgeous streaks of pinks, oranges and purples across the dusky sky. Jump and Gotham glimmered in the distance and the water of Gotham City River around Titans Tower glittered with light from the two metropolises.

"Beautiful night, huh, B.B?" Robin asked, going to the edge of the roof.

"Yeah…" Beast Boy folded his arms. "C'mon, Batboy, stop messing me around. What about Terra?"

Robin felt his stomach clench and he slowly turned to face the shape-shifter.

"Ok… um…" He sighed deeply. "Look, I'm just gonna be straight with you, Beast Boy…"

Beast Boy nodded mutely as Robin came back over to him.

"Terra…"

"Yeah, Terra…"

"She… um…"

"She _what?_"

"She…"

"_Terra what_, Robin?"

"I kissed her."

Beast Boy stared at him.

"No, wait…" Robin slapped his forehead. "That came out wrong. I didn't kiss her; _she_ kissed _me_."

Still the shape-shifter stared at him.

"_Why?_" He asked finally, his voice small and sad.

"Well, it was actually really weird, because she asked me if I'd do something for her, and-"

"And you kissed back?" Beast Boy interrupted. "Robin, tell me you didn't. Just _please_ tell me you didn't kiss back."

"I didn't at first, and then-"

"You did," Beast Boy finished hollowly. "Jeez, you _did_…"

"Yes, but if you'd just listen-" Robin started, nettled that Beast Boy kept interrupting him every time he tried to explain.

"No." Beast Boy interrupted him again. "No. I don't _want_ to listen to you, Robin. I can't believe you_… I just can't believe it!_"

Robin had realised that Beast Boy wasn't going to be pleased, but he _had_ expected the shape-shifter to allow him to plead his case at least.

"Look, B.B, I know you're angry, but if you would just _listen_ to me-"

"Why _should_ I listen to you!" Beast Boy snapped, his pointed teeth flashing. "I can't believe you kissed her!"

"I _didn't_, _she_ kissed _me_, and if you'd just-"

"This is just _typical_ of you!" Beast Boy shrieked, losing his temper. "You are _so selfish!_ Jeez, it's not enough for you, is it, Robin? You're the leader, you get to boss us all around, and everybody thinks you're so cool and hot and amazing, although I don't know how you can possibly be "cool" _and_ "hot", and Starfire would have you down the aisle faster than you can say "Titans, Go!" if you'd let her, and don't act all innocent because me and Cy _know_ you and Raven have your history too!"

Beast Boy paused to draw his breath and Robin simply stared at him.

"And ok, I know you hated Kitten's _guts_, but she was still kinda pretty even if she _was_ a psycho, and Blackfire liked you too and, yeah, she _definitely_ was a psycho, and you practically _made out_ with Poison Ivy and I know she nearly killed you and all but she was _hot_, Robin, _seriously hot_. You can have your pick out of pretty much _anyone_ you like because… ok, Robin, you _are_ a good-looking guy. Everyone overlooks me and Cy for you because you have a nicer ass or cooler hair or 'cause you have that whole "Man of Mystery" mask-thing going or 'cause you used to hang out with Bats or whatever, but _Terra_… jeez, man, she actually liked _me_. She thought I was cool and funny and sensitive and she actually wanted to spend time with me and I didn't annoy her. And you know what? We almost kissed, Robin. _Almost_. Do you know why we didn't? Do you know what stopped us? Well, _do you?_"

Robin shook his head mutely.

"Your "pal" Slade stopped us!" Beast Boy spat. "Inches, Robin. Centimetres… _millimetres_ from what I wanted to do from the moment I set eyes on her. And _he_ wrecked it!"

"That's not _my_ fault!" Robin said indignantly. Beast Boy snorted disbelievingly.

"Well, maybe not, but still… you…" Beast Boy seemed to be struggling to get the words out now. "I loved her, Robin, and no matter her mistakes, I still do. And I think she liked me back. And we never got to kiss… but _you_… you didn't even _like_ her! You _never_ trusted her, even from the start, you _or_ Raven! And even so… even though you didn't like her, _you_ still got to kiss her, and _I_ didn't. Don't you _understand_ how that makes me feel?"

"No… yes… B.B, will you _please_ let me _finish?_" Robin said in frustration.

"What, so you can tell me what she was like?" Beast Boy said mockingly. He folded his arms. "Go on, then, Robin, _indulge me_."

"Well, she kissed me and then I didn't kiss back so she broke it off and _told_ me to kiss back, and I really didn't want to but I did and then she started touching me, but…"

Every. Word. Made. It. Worse…

Robin trailed off; again his words were coming out completely wrong. He was desperately sorry, but he didn't sound it; he sounded quite arrogant, actually, and definitely big-headed, as though he was rubbing it in Beast Boy's green face.

He sighed and shook his head as Beast Boy watched him, speechless once more.

"Look, if it's anything to you, she also called me a prick… among other things…"

"You _are_ a prick," Beast Boy said flatly. "Among other things, "arrogant, conniving, thieving, treacherous son-of-a-bitch" being one of them."

"Don't _ever_ insult my mom," Robin spat. "And you _still_ won't let me finish."

"I don't think I want to hear any more," Beast Boy replied coldly. He turned on his heel and started to storm off. Robin reached out and grabbed his wrist, whipping him back around.

"Yes, you do. And you _will_ listen to me!"

"Let go of me before I rip your throat out," Beast Boy whispered dangerously. Robin released him but stood his ground.

"Beast Boy, I'm a _messenger_ here. That kiss… it was for _you_. She stressed that about three times, that it wasn't for me. The only reason she _wanted_ me to kiss back was because she was pretending _I_ was _you_."

Beast Boy stared at him for a very long time.

"Jeez, man, you should be up for an _Oscar_," he muttered eventually.

"But Beast Boy-" Robin started, exasperated.

"Oh, shut up, Robin!" Beast Boy snapped. "You really think I'm gonna believe that? I don't look anything _like_ you! And I probably don't _feel_ anything like you either; you're taller and you're not as bony as me and _I'm furry_, for Pete's sake!"

"Look, I don't know why she bothered either!" Robin said irritably. "I wish she hadn't!"

Immediately Beast Boy went on the defensive.

"Why? What's wrong with Terra? Isn't she good enough for you, Wonder Boy? Oh dear me, she's not a little goodie-two-shoes like you! She's not an airhead like Starfire or a creepy loner like Raven!"

"Shut up, Beast Boy!" Robin snapped. "Star's _not_ an airhead, and Raven _is_ creepy, yes, but she _isn't_ a loner! What I mean is that I wish she hadn't kissed me because _you're_ making such a big deal about it!"

"Why _shouldn't_ I make a big deal about it?" Beast Boy shrieked. "You're _supposed_ to be my friend but you're nothing but a conniving little back-stabber! Next thing you'll have gotten her pregnant!"

"Oh, for_ god's sake_…" Robin buried his face in his hands. "Beast Boy, will you calm down! Terra doesn't mean anything to me, not in _that_ way, and _I_ don't mean anything to _her_. If she ever _does_ get pregnant it won't be mine."

_More likely it'll be Slade's…_

He didn't voice that thought.

"Right." He sighed and put his hands up in surrender. "I'm going to go from the top. Don't interrupt. Starfire and I were walking along one of the tunnels in the diamond mine, Terra turned up and knocked Starfire out to get her out of the way, and she almost killed me but then she changed her mind because of the prophecy and _blah blah blah_, right?"

He nodded curtly. Beast Boy nodded cautiously in reply.

"Ok, good. Terra was going to leave and I told her to come back to the Titans but she was like, "No, Slade owns me", and I was just going to let her go and then she asked me to do something for her so I was like, "Yeah, what?", and then she just _kissed_ me, and Beast Boy, she _stopped_, 'cause I said she was feeling me up, and she _was_, but she stopped when she touched my ears…" He looked at Beast Boy in despair, desperate for his friend to believe him. "They're not _pointy_, Beast Boy. She felt they weren't pointy and the illusion shattered. Her eyes were squeezed tightly shut so she could imagine I was you until obviously she got to a distinguishable characteristic that _I_ don't have."

Beast Boy gazed at him for a very long time, and he seemed on the very brink of believing him. He certainly _wanted_ to believe him.

"You're lying, " he said eventually, his voice hollow. "Terra wouldn't do that."

"She _did_, Beast Boy! What's _wrong_ with you!" Robin cried, exasperated.

"Look, I don't trust you," Beast Boy said harshly. "You're lying to me, _Red X_."

Robin flinched at that remark.

"I'm _not_ lying-"

"Yes you are. You have to be, because it all sounds so _stupid_… "She was pretending I was you"… I know I act dumb, Robin, but I'm not _that_ stupid! I know what you're like. You were giving yourself another little ego-boost at _my_ expense, not that your fat head _needs_ it, and you know, _Terra_ probably didn't even kiss _you_. More like it was the other way around. You probably grabbed her and had your tongue halfway down her throat before she even realised it. And she could have crushed you, I guess, but _no_, she probably fell under your little spell because with all the practice you've had, I'd imagine you're a pretty damn good kisser!"

"_Beast Boy-_" Robin started in frustration.

"No, dude, don't you "Beast Boy" me!" Beast Boy interrupted furiously. "I'm always so damn _nice_ you think you can walk all over me like a doormat! Well, listen to me, _Hotshot_; go near Terra again and I'm not kidding, Robin, I swear I'll _kill_ you. I'll turn into a snake and bite you or a scorpion and sting you, or I might turn into a tiger and feast on your bowels while you're still alive, or maybe I'll just change into a Tyrannosaurus Rex and swallow you whole."

Robin blinked.

"Excuse me?"

"I can kill you, Robin," Beast Boy said softly. "You _know_ I can. I just beat you in the gym with no trouble at all."

"Kill me and you lose your powers," Robin reminded him icily. "And don't threaten me, Beast Boy. I know you're angry and I really don't blame you, ok, but you really _are_ making a huge big deal out of this. Terra didn't do it to make you angry or jealous. I'm sure she'd rather kiss the _real_ you."

Beast Boy didn't reply for a while.

"You just don't get it, do you?" He said finally, his voice barely more than a whisper.

"No, I don't think I do," Robin agreed coldly. "Beast Boy, I'm _sorry_, ok? But it was for you, and she was pretending I _was_ you, and I know you don't believe me but _screw you_ because that's what happened. I don't know what else you want me to say."

Silence.

"Neither do I," Beast Boy said finally. "I guess no matter what you say, it won't be what I want to hear."

"What _do_ you want to hear?"

"That it didn't really happen. Whether you're telling the truth or not about who it was really for, I'd rather hear that it didn't happen at all."

Robin shrugged helplessly.

"I can't tell you that, because then I really _would_ be lying."

"Whatever…"

Beast Boy turned and walked away back towards the stairway up to the roof.

Robin caught him up and put his hand on his shoulder.

"B.B, I-"

He didn't get to finish as Beast Boy whipped around and punched him in the face. It wasn't a particularly hard punch, as Beast Boy wasn't very strong in his human form, but it hit him directly in the mouth and took him by surprise. He fell back and landed on his backside, tasting blood in his mouth. He stared up at the shape-shifter, shocked beyond belief.

"Don't look at me like that," Beast Boy spat at him. "You deserved it."

"Ok, _fine_…" Robin spat out some blood onto the surface of the roof. "I deserved it. Will you _forgive_ me now, for Pete's sake?"

"You _jerk!_" Beast Boy shrieked at him. "You don't realise… you've taken everything, Robin! Broken all my dreams, stamped on what little self-esteem I had… one little stolen kiss and you wrecked everything. The sooner Slade kills you the better!"

Robin's stomach _thunked_ unpleasantly at that. He felt sick, the words chilling him… and then he blazed.

"Beast Boy, don't you _dare_-" He started angrily.

He cut himself off abruptly as Beast Boy leaned right over him and motioned with his hand at his mouth, his fingers curled loosely as though holding something, prodding the inside of his cheek with his tongue to give an objectionable, filthy effect. Robin simply sat landed on his butt on the roof of the Tower, dumbfounded as Beast Boy crudely motioned "cock-sucker" at him in a way that was _way_ too realistic for comfort.

Beast Boy abruptly turned away and transformed into a majestic green eagle; he spread his wide wings and soared off into the twilit sky.

Robin wiped his mouth on his glove, frowning. _Why_ did he always get himself into situations like this?...

And that last statement, that disgusting manual insult… that had been below the belt. He knew Beast Boy didn't mean it; he was just angry and upset and feeling betrayed. Of course Beast Boy wouldn't want to see him get killed.

But it had still hurt.

"He didn't mean that."

"How long have you been there?" Robin asked, sensing Raven rising out of her bird-shaped aura from the surface of the roof itself. He didn't face her.

"I heard enough."

"And do _you_ believe me?" He sighed.

"Yes. I can read minds, remember? Although you _do_ have "two-timing sleaze" on your criminal record, Robin."

"Yeah, yeah… And you saw… _that?_"

"Yeah. Gross, huh? I don't know where he gets this stuff…"

She sighed and sat down beside him on the roof, gazing out over the glittering cityscape stretched out below and beyond them.

_Where the city sleeps_

_And I'm the only one_

_And I walk alone…_

"Nice night, isn't it?"

"Mmm. I love city nights."

"Me too. Although the ones in Azarath are beautiful too."

"I'd like to see Azarath."

"Maybe you will one day. I think you'd like it, but you might find it a little boring. It's very peaceful. And there's no pizza."

Robin smiled vaguely and looked up at the darkening sky. A few stars had come out and were twinkling valiantly in the now almost-purple sky.

"You think he'll be ok?" He asked softly. Raven nodded.

"Yeah, he'll be fine. He's just hurting. You've haven't broken _all_ his dreams; some were broken in the first place. Let's face it, Beast Boy is _never_ going to be a rock star."

Robin laughed softly.

"I didn't think he'd take it _this_ hard. I didn't say it to upset him."

"I know you didn't, and _he_ knows that too. But he _does_ love Terra, Robin, and you have to understand that he sees it as theft."

Robin nodded.

"Yeah, but _she_ kissed _me_."

A nasty thought occurred to him.

"Hey, _you're_ not mad at me too, are you?" He asked suspiciously.

Raven punched him lightly on the arm.

"Narcissist jerk," she murmured. "We're finished, remember? You blew it because you couldn't keep your hands – or your lips - off Starfire."

"How _is_ Star?" He asked. "Is she awake?"

"Yeah, she woke up hours ago," Raven replied dismissively. "We journeyed to the "Mall of Shopping" this afternoon and she bought a simply _delightful_ variety of pink sparkly hair clips. She insisted on trying them out on me and then she went hunting for another victim… Cyborg doesn't have any hair, so he was spared, but I don't know…"

Raven tweaked a spike of his black hair and grinned.

"I think a few pink clips would look quite fetching among this sea of spikes, to be honest," she sniggered. He slapped her off as he imagined it.

"I think I'll avoid Star 'til tomorrow," he decided. Raven shrugged.

"Suit yourself. Watch out though; she might ambush you."

Robin smiled wryly and started to whistle to himself.

"What are you whistling?" Raven inquired blandly.

"This song that was on the shower radio this morning," he replied. "Beast Boy reminded me of it when he was yelling at me. It's called _Boulevard of Broken Dreams_."

"I was hoping for another rendition of _American Pie_," Raven teased.

"I'm sure you were."

He started up his whistling again and Raven hummed along to it.

"Green Day."

"Yup."

He whistled the chorus and stopped.

"Why'd you stop?"

"It's physically impossible to whistle electric guitar chords."

Raven shrugged.

"Fair enough. You whistle good."

"My dad taught me. My _real_ dad."

Raven nodded.

"Maybe we should go in."

"You can," Robin answered. "I'm not."

"I'll sit with you then. I don't know, Robin… you drive me up the wall sometimes, and other times you're the only person who _doesn't_ get on my nerves. Sometimes I feel like you're the only one who can understand what I'm saying, even though I'm speaking English. I think we have some kind of connection."

"Maybe because we're the two dark moody loners of the group," Robin mused. "Deep calls to deep..."

"Like calls to like," Raven finished. She moved a little closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder, expecting him to shrug her off in the middle of his "Don't-touch-me Hiatus". But he didn't. He seemed pretty out of it, actually, she noticed. He was now singing _Boulevard of Broken Dreams_ very softly, as though he was trying to lull her to sleep, and the song indeed did seem, bizarrely, now more like a lullaby than the rock song it actually was. He wasn't the greatest singer in the world, but it was pleasant.

"You're not alone, Robin," she murmured as he got to that line. "You have your friends – even if Beast Boy _did_ try to knock you out – and we'll stop this prophecy from being fulfilled together…"

He nodded, carried on singing, believing the lyrics as they rolled off his tongue;

_Check my vital signs_

_To know I'm still alive_

_And I walk alone…_

But Raven was right; he _didn't_ walk alone. He might be on the Boulevard of Broken Dreams, but he was certainly alive, and he was certainly _not_ alone…

* * *

Three cheers for corny chapter endings! Yay!

I'm actually listening to _Boulevard of Broken Dreams_ at the moment; it is _cooool_… And Beast Boy motioning the "cock-sucker" thing? Something I added in right at the very last moment; I got it off a programme called _Hex_, which is pretty much the British version of _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_. It's cool, though; Thelma did it to Leon when he was being a prick and I laughed my ass off and HAD to add it here. And to have it done to _Robin_ – almighty arrogant jerk that he is – by Beast Boy just seemed freakin' hilarious to me…

New chapter up whenever! And Narroch06 and I should be updating _Small Print_ sometime within the next year or five…

- RobinRocks x


	6. The Beatles and Radio Revelations

Ha! I am back!

With a VENGEANCE!

It would appear that some scum reported me for using Shakira's lyrics to "Underneath Your Clothes" for my RobinxRaven one-shot. The fic was deleted from the site (so my sincerest apologies to anyone who had it on their favourites list or who had C2 archived it) and my "infraction" has been "recorded". I was also "banned" from uploading anything for a while. Blah…

Dear god… this is FAN-FICTION! I OBVIOUSLY did not write that song! I never claimed that I did; the SUMMARY said a SONG-FIC to SHAKIRA'S "Underneath Your Clothes"… For heaven's sake, if I was making money off it, I could see their problem… Well, if I ever find out who reported me, my foot and their ass are gonna have a very intimate meeting…

And I wear killer heels.

ANYWAY… I'm really here to wish my partner-in-crime Narroch06 (go check out our co-written RobinxSlade fic _Small Print_ if you have never read it, like, right now! End of Shameless Plug) a very happy 18th birthday for Saturday 28th January! Which was… ages ago. I wanted update on that day to wish her happy birthday on the actual DAY, but the site was like, "No Way, you little criminal offender", and had "locked up" my account. No uploading access for me for five whole days. Aaaaaaand… the day I could go back on was 2nd of Feb, and that was the day I was flying out to NYC for my school's shopping… I mean RE trip. Of course. I swear they did it on purpose.

And NYC was AWESOME, BTW! Although if I had realised that STEVE MARTIN WAS ACTUALLY IN THE NBC BUILDING at the exact time of our tour of the studio – he was rehearsing for hosting SNL on Saturday – I would have brought my gun…

Anyway, I'm back now! Yay! And Narroch06; late as it may be… this chapter is dedicated especially to you! And… oh, the irony…

This chapter is about music. :)

And thankyou to all who reviewed! Phoenix Skyborne, YamiTai, Quinn and His Quill (I still say he pawned that sword), Thrill Zone, Timber Fox, Rocky Wolf aaaaaaand Narroch06! Co-writers in da house!

Enjoy, y'all!

The Beatles and Radio Revelations

"Jeez… quiet, isn't it?"

Robin looked up lazily; he was lying sprawled on the huge red semi-circular couch, one leg hooked over the back panel, with his nose in the latest edition of _TIME_. There was an empty bottle of Lucozade on the cushions next to him and he was chewing absently on the twirl of red liquorice sticking out of his mouth.

"Yeah," he agreed flippantly. He scratched his hair as he looked at Cyborg over the top of his magazine. The half-robot had flicked through every single TV channel, to no avail, and was now rifling through Beast Boy's CD collection.

"Man, that boy has _nothing_ good in here," Cyborg complained. "_Beach Boys Greatest Hits_, _Lulu and the Luvvers Shout It Out_, _Herman's Hermits Live_, _The Greatest Beatles Collection Ever…"_

"_Ugh_, too Mad Mod for me," Robin stated of the last one, disdain evident in his voice.

"Yeah, who does that guy think he is, Ringo Starr?"

"He's definitely not John Lennon," Robin said complacently.

"Well, yeah; John Lennon's _dead_," Cyborg replied airily. "But you're right; Lennon was all for peace and love. Moddy's all for hypno-screens, terrible outfits and dumb-ass British customs…"

"So we're overlooking The Beatles, then?..." Robin asked heavily.

"Yeah, I think so…"

Robin sighed heavily as though breathing his last and lay back on the couch, draping his open magazine across his stomach. He took his liquorice out of his mouth and examined it.

"You ok over there?" He heard Cyborg ask.

"Yeah. Why?"

"You're like a dying swan," Cyborg grinned. "Or _Romeo and Juliet_." He put a hand to his forehead and imitated Robin's earlier gesture of boredom. "_Oh, Romeo, Romeo; wherefore art thee, Romeo?_" He gushed in a silly high-pitched voice.

"It's "wherefore art _thou_, Romeo"," Robin corrected him dryly.

"Oh, you know it, do you? Practice it every night in front of your mirror?" Cyborg teased. He sharply stopped grinning as the Lucozade bottle came arcing through the air and hit him on the head.

"_Ouch_, ok, point taken," Cyborg muttered, rubbing his skull. "_Juliet_," he added with a smirk as he went back to Beast Boy's CDs.

"You want a birdarang in your skull, Cy?"

"No thanks, Boy Wonder…"

Robin heaved another sigh and closed his eyes, putting his liquorice back in his mouth.

"I'm so _bored_…" he said loudly. "I mean, I know I should be _ecstatic_ that I haven't had to do any "Avenging" for the past couple of days, and I guess I am. It's really no fun being Slade's Most Wanted, to be honest, and I'm glad he hasn't been stirring up more trouble, but we haven't been called out _at all_ since that incident with Terra, and that was _three_ days ago… Nothing. Not even a Grade-Z bank stick-up or some punk deciding he doesn't want a parking ticket… What's _wrong_, Cy? Doesn't anyone _need_ us anymore?"

"I'm sure they do," Cyborg said distractedly. "What the hell…? _Muppets Greatest Hits!_ _Where_ does he get this junk!"

"Aren't _you_ bored, Cy?"

"Of course I am. Otherwise I wouldn't be going through B.B's CDs."

"Fair comment." Robin chewed his liquorice thoughtfully. "Where _is_ Beast Boy, anyway?"

"Gym. Again. I dunno what's got into him this past couple of days. All he wants to do is punch stuff."

Robin's eyes snapped open but Cyborg had his back to him and didn't notice.

He frowned; _he_ had noticed a change in Beast Boy's behaviour too, but unlike Cyborg, he knew the cause. He _was_ the cause. Beast Boy had not spoken to him since that evening on the roof, and while Robin couldn't exactly blame him, it was starting to get a little tiresome, especially considering he had practically thrown himself at the shape-shifter's feet in apology and Beast Boy had smacked him in the mouth anyway.

"Where's Star, then? And Raven?"

"Mall, I think."

"_Great_. More hairclips."

"Yeah, how long did it take you to get those things out of your hair?"

"_Hours_…"

Robin pulled a face at the memory; the alien girl had got him after all. Raven, of course, hadn't come to his aid; she had been too busy laughing.

"Look on the bright side," Cyborg said dryly. "At least she didn't give you a _makeover_…"

Poor Cyborg; he had no hair. Starfire had to compensate somehow…

"What say we pack her off back to Tamaran?" Robin stated flatly.

Not meaning a word of it, of course.

"Oh, you wouldn't do that, Robbie. We all love Star. _And_ she has better taste in music than Beast Boy."

"What's wrong with your own CDs?"

"Listened to 'em all. At least fifty times. _Each_. I'm sick of 'em, and I've listened to all of yours too, before you offer. That's how bored I am."

Robin sighed.

"You could _read_ something," he said patronisingly. Cyborg snorted.

"Yeah, like _what?_" He challenged. "Everything _you_ have is either about criminology, martial arts or detectives. I'm not even gonna bother about Raven's books 'cause they'll probably give me nightmares, Starfire's books are either in Tamaranean or are boring kid's classics like _Tom Sawyer_, and _Beast Boy?_ Man, I don't even think the guy can _read_."

"I'm sure he'd have a _Playboy_ magazine if you asked him," Robin said tonelessly, picking up _TIME_ again. Cyborg snorted with laughter, then clicked his tongue as Robin became immersed in his magazine.

"How can you _read_ that junk?" He asked incredulously. "_TIME_, _The New Yorker_, every newspaper going… I swear I saw you reading the _Wall Street Journal_ the other day."

"You did," Robin said blandly, turning the page. "Bruce taught me not to read rubbish. Everything I read has some kind of point to it."

"Meaning it's all intellectual and _boring_," Cyborg elaborated. "How can you _stick_ those _Sherlock Holmes_ stories?"

"Because they're cleverly written, ingenious with brilliant characters and plot twists. He's the most famous fictional detective in the world. Need I go on?"

"Please don't. But I don't know how you find books about a detective interesting. You _are_ a detective."

"Sherlock Holmes didn't wear a cape."

"Or a mask. Ok, fair play; the guy wasn't a _superhero_ too. And he was British."

"You can't judge all British people just because you hate Mad Mod. Otherwise _everyone_ would hate British people. The British people would hate _themselves_."

"Ok, ok. Jeez, I _hate_ it when you get philosophical…"

Robin shrugged and grinned and didn't look up from his article. Cyborg muttered something about bookworms and how boring and lame they were and how almost all of them ended up overweight wearing T-shirts that were too small for them stating "Genius At Work" as he wandered away. Robin shook his head and smiled.

Cyborg put on the radio and sat on the counter as he tried to tune it in to a good station.

"…Another great classic there, hugely popular in the 80s by one-hit wonders The Buggles… where do they come up with these names? Anyway, _Video Killed the Radio Star_, and before that the song that's storming the charts at the moment, _Boulevard of Broken Dreams_ by Green Day. It's on everyone's lips and is looking at another week on the number one spot…"

_How ironic_…

"Oh, we missed it!" Cyborg complained. "I like that song…"

"…Don't worry, folks, we got plenty more coming up… It's ten past two in the afternoon and we've got a great line-up: Robert Palmer's _Addicted To Love_, Madonna and The Offspring are all coming up a bit later on, but right now our _NewsBite_… apparently Bruce Wayne, Gotham City's richest and most eligible bachelor, had left the city for a few weeks on unstated business. Wayne Enterprises has been left in the hands of the company's chairman, Lucius Fox, for a few weeks, but suspicions have been aroused as to where Mr Wayne has disappeared to. Many rumours are circulating the city, among these that Wayne will be a bachelor no more when he returns and has in fact jetted off to some remote tropical island to wed the girl of his dreams away from prying eyes. Others think he has been taken hostage for a ransom…"

"Did you know about this?" Cyborg asked, looking at Robin, who had sat up again and was listening intently. The Boy Wonder shook his head.

"No. He didn't say anything…" He frowned, then shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe it's business. He's gone away before and left me with Alfred."

"Who protects Gotham?"

"The GCPD. They're more than capable, Cy; they just prefer to let Batman get on with it. Commissioner Gordon, Bullock and Montoya are all exceptional detectives."

Cyborg nodded.

"So you don't think we should step in?"

Robin shook his head.

"No. Besides, we have our _own_ city to protect."

"Yeah, but there's _nothing_ happening here."

"I know, but Cy… Bruce wouldn't like it if we started muscling in on his city. He wouldn't be grateful; he'd think we were intruding, and he'd be right."

"Well, you'd know, Batboy."

Robin nodded.

"Yeah. I know Bruce all too well.."

Cyborg grinned as the perky opening strains of The Rembrandts' _I'll Be There For You _came on the radio. Robin frowned.

"Hey, isn't this out of…?"

"_Friends_," Cyborg grinned in reply. "Yup. It's a great song."

Robin nodded and smiled as Cyborg started singing along to it… with the accompaniment of some overly-dramatic arm gestures; the Boy Wonder had to avoid being sent flying a number of times, as the half-robot was "dancing" dangerously near the couch.

Cyborg's fun was cut short as the siren went off and the crimson light started to flash. Robin leapt off the couch eagerly.

"C'mon, Cy!" He yelled. "Titan Alert!"

Cyborg looked disappointed as he grinded to a halt.

"But… _Friends_…" he said, pointing hopelessly at the radio.

"I thought you said you were bored!" Robin said, exasperated. "Screw _Friends!_ _Come on!_ Places to go, bad guy butt to kick!"

Cyborg sighed and flicked off the radio.

"Who put you in charge again, Wonder Boy?…" He muttered darkly as he followed the excited Robin from the front room. "_Easily-entertained intellectual Shakespeare-reciting Friends-disdaining spiky-haired little…_"

* * *

Woo… short, and seemingly about nothing. Well, Robin and Cy complained a lot about music, and Brucie's off gallivanting…

Better next chapter, I promise! Stuff _happens_…

And Terra, Slade and that arrow make a reappearance.

Unfortunately for Robin…

Oh, and Bruce hasn't really been kidnapped, just so you know. He's off chasing all those damned escaped criminals still running loose from the Arkham breakout in _Asylum_…

Happy birthday to Narroch06 for like, four weeks ago:)

I just gotta stay outta trouble now…

NYC FOREVER! DOWN WITH STEVE MARTIN:(

- RobinRocks xXx


	7. The Sorceror's Apprentice

Well, a PRETTY long instalment tonight, people! Stuff happens! Slade and Terra are back, and so is the arrow! Plus BB sulks with Robin some more… And The Beatles are not mentioned once! I like The Beatles… although we clearly do _not_ all live in a yellow submarine…

Anyway, I knew I used to the Queen of Super-Long Reviewer-Worshipping Author-Notes, but since I was banned for a few days the other week because of "breaking the site rules concerning song lyrics", I am quite paranoid. Just because you _say_ they aren't watching me doesn't mean they aren't… So I will probably get back to it eventually, but for now I understand that was why they invented the "Review Reply" button; to stop all those super-long author notes…

Still, I shall thank you all now anyway; YamiTai (Roy is not in this instalment; he's in the third part of the trilogy, _Remember the Titans_, BUT he does have a VERY BIG part in it, so…); my partner-in-crime Narroch06 (thanks for the COMPLETELY IRRELEVENT review…); Seductive Angel; Thrillzone (excellent job on the CyxRob fic! Join the revolution!); Quinn and His Quill (I _know_ you're still out there, Quinn…); Rocky Wolf; Daybreak25 (good job on your StarxRob fic too, Ms RobinxRaven fan!) aaaaaaand…

PHOENIX SKYBORNE! Who was 24 the last time I updated, in which I wished Narroch06 Happy Birthday too late too… Well, Happy Birthday to ya, pal! This chapter is dedicated to ya! Whoo-hoo! Hope you like:)

Apologies to anyone I forgot…

Well, enjoy, kids…

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Terra breathed in deeply, the gentle breeze blowing her long blonde hair lightly across her face. Her pale blue eyes were closed and her arms spread as she felt the warmth of the sun on her body and enjoyed it. She loved being outside; as an earth-mover, she considered the earth to be her home, more so than any of the material housing that human beings dwelled in. Her eyes opened again and she sighed happily as she looked down.

She was standing at the very edge of a rocky ravine, the borderline to a 100ft drop to the dry cracked wasteland below. Beneath her feet dust swirled in the warm breeze, but that was all. Out here, beyond the borders of Jump City, beyond even the woodlands, it was like a desert, a wasteland straight out of a cowboy movie with even the odd sun-bleached cattle skull or dry-picked bone strewn on the cracked ground to complete the scene.

Her smile faded. It was out here in these very wastelands that she had first met the Teen Titans; her first, last and only friends…

"Terra, come here."

Terra stood at the edge for a while longer, looking down. She could simply leap off; she wouldn't be hurt. She could save herself, rip out a rock from the side of the ravine and ride it like a surfer on the crest of a wave, far away beyond the horizon and get away from all of this, escape from-

"_Terra!_ Come here _now!_"

Terra tore herself away from the edge and returned to her master's side.

Slade didn't even bother to look at his apprentice as she obeyed his order. Instead he was testing the strain potential and tautness of his bow-string, his single grey eye narrowed. The arrow the seer had presented him with was at his feet, a black silk cloth draped around it to protect the fragile shaft. Next to it were a couple of normal arrows for practice.

"What is it?" She asked quietly, looking at the ground.

"I'll need you in a minute. Be quiet."

She complied and bit her lip. Slade had ordered her to wreak some havoc in a chain across the desert, leading the Titans right to this point – or rather, the point 100ft below. From up here Slade had an excellent range, and she knew he wouldn't miss as long as things went to plan.

The plan being that she was to distract the Titans and somehow daze Robin so that he wouldn't be leaping about while Slade was trying to shoot him with the arrow. When the deed was done she was to get out of there sharpish and they would take their leave while the Titans flapped and panicked about Robin.

No mistakes. No hesitation. No mercy.

She didn't want to do it. She didn't want to hurt Robin. She had kissed him; yes, she had been pretending he was Beast Boy, but it had still been him in reality whom she had kissed. How could she suddenly turn on him so viciously? And after what Slade had done to him?... He didn't deserve to die, prophecy or no prophecy.

She sighed sadly.

"Don't even think about changing your mind, Terra," Slade murmured softly, as though reading her mind. "Remember where your loyalty lies…"

Terra hesitated.

"With you," she said defeatedly.

Slade smiled lazily at her, although she couldn't see it beneath his mask.

"_Good girl_… Shoot some pebbles up into the air for me to hit."

He picked up a practice arrow and placed it correctly in the bow, pulling back the string until it wouldn't pull any further. From behind him she could see every muscle and tendon in his back and shoulders pulled taut too. He had known how to shoot before, but after three days of solid practice… He was lethal. _She_ knew it; _he_ knew it.

He wouldn't miss.

* * *

"So what's the deal, Robbie?"

Robin turned to Cyborg and the half-robot noticed that his friend didn't look quite as flushed and excited as he had when he had gone racing out of the front room in answer to the Titan Alert. On the contrary, his face was now set, determined, but he was also paler than usual and he was gripping his staff extremely tightly. Raven and Starfire were hovering along either side of him like ladies-in-waiting, both of their expressions concerned; they had been hauled from their shopping-expedition extremely reluctantly. Beast Boy was trailing moodily along at the back, kicking the dust.

The sun beat down on the team of teen superheroes as they traipsed along the wasteland, all alert to a certain extent but not beyond. All of them were thinking the same thing.

_This is where we met Terra_…

"There's no deal, Cy," Robin sighed. He wiped his sweaty forehead with back of his glove and put his staff away in his yellow utility belt.

"You know, you really don't look so good," Cyborg remarked worriedly, looking at the Boy Wonder again. "You sure you're ok? Maybe you shouldn't have-"

"I'm fine, Cy, really, " Robin interrupted heavily. "I just wish it wasn't so hot. And that we knew where we were going and what we were looking for."

He knew he wasn't fooling Cyborg, or indeed _any_ of them. They all knew he was worried, and they were all worried with him, and for him.

He exhaled heavily and pushed his sweaty fringe out of his face. _Why_ had he complained about being bored? He would much rather have been sprawled out on the couch in the air-conditioned Titans Tower reading his magazine and munching red liquorice and turning into an overweight bookworm with an undersized T-shirt reading "Genius At Work".

"Are you too hot, Robin?" Starfire inquired imploringly. "Would you like me to lick you?"

He stopped and stared at her. They all did.

Starfire looked at them all, confused at why they were all looking at her as if she was mad.

"It is a custom on Tamaran," she explained. "During the hot season on my planet, my people lick each other's faces to keep cool. It is a very normal gesture."

She blinked beguilingly a couple of times.

"Another reason I am _so_ glad I'm not an alien," Raven muttered. Robin smiled faintly at that remark; technically, Raven _was_ an alien in the sense that she was not from Earth, but the dimension Azarath. However, unlike Starfire, Raven did not class herself as such.

"No thanks, Star," he declined weakly. "I'll survive…"

Starfire beamed and went on ahead, Raven and Cyborg close behind her.

He started to walk again and felt a dig in the small of his back as Beast Boy fell into step alongside him. The shape-shifter was actually smiling, the way he usually did.

"_You_ thought she meant something else, didn't you?" He accused happily. Robin frowned, then realised what Beast Boy was getting at.

"_Beast Boy!_ _No_. Absolutely _not_."

Beast Boy's friendly grin faded and he shrugged offhandedly.

"Don't kid me, Wonder Boy. 'Sides, if you ever want sucked off, I'm sure Terra will gladly oblige."

The shape-shifter stalked off with his nose in the air and Robin stared after him in total shock. Had he heard that right? Had Beast Boy actually implied that Terra would…?

"_Oh, god, Terra! Yes, YES! Deep throat it, goddamn you! Oh, **yes!**…"_

Cyborg turned back to find Robin standing by himself, his arms folded and a totally incredulous look on his face.

"Yo, Robin! You comin'!"

"Yes, Robin," Beast Boy said maliciously, appearing behind the vast half-robot. "You _coming?_"

"Get lost, you little grass stain!" Cyborg snapped irritably, swatting the shape-shifter away.

"Gladly," Beast Boy muttered, catching up with Starfire.

"_What_ the _heck_ was _that_ all about?" Cyborg asked as Robin joined him, his masked eyes wide and his gaze still on Beast Boy. "Did he mean what I _think_ he meant? And what's got into him lately, anyhow?"

Robin shrugged and shook his head, trying to get over the shock. Beast Boy's personality had completely changed since Robin had told him about the incident with Terra. He was moody, irritable and downright malicious, mostly to Robin himself, but Cyborg, Raven and Starfire had all fallen victim to the shape-shifter's ever-sharpening tongue too. But _this_ was OTT. Even though the kiss had been for him, Beast Boy was overwhelmingly jealous and in turn his jealously was making him blow things way out of proportion. All they had done was _kiss_. Truthfully they hadn't even _touched_ each other all that much, never mind tried to _undress_ each other. Terra _certainly_ hadn't sucked him off, of all things…

_For Pete's sake, B.B. Jealous-much?..._

He fanned himself with his gloved hand as he and Cyborg carried on after the others. He felt hotter than before due his annoyance at Beast Boy and his sick twisting of words and Cyborg seemed to sense his irritance.

"Hey, man, you ok? You want me to pound that tofu-lovin' idiot for you?"

_I'd rather pound him myself_…

"That's ok, Cy, but watch this space. I might take you up on that offer if he carries on like this."

Cyborg nodded.

"Yeah. I dunno what the heck's up with him, but it's drivin' us all nuts. I'm surprised Raven hasn't fried him by now."

"Mm."

He could have told Cyborg, but thought that maybe the half-robot would side with Beast Boy and then he'd have to deal with the pair of them. Besides, it wasn't his place to go around telling everyone who would listen that he had kissed Beast Boy's almost-girlfriend. It would sound as though he was bragging about it, like he was proud of the deed, and he most certainly _wasn't_.

They reached the others, who had stopped and were looking around cautiously.

"What's up, y'all?" Cyborg inquired, looking sideways at Robin. Robin frowned in response and said nothing.

"Beast Boy thought he heard something," Raven replied simply.

"I _did_ hear something," Beast Boy corrected snippily.

"_Whatever_," Raven muttered, pulling up her hood. Beast Boy didn't seem to hear her.

"What did you hear, Beast Boy?" Robin asked, turning to the shape-shifter.

"A noise," Beast Boy answered dismissively. Robin's expression became very deadpan.

"_Duh_."

"Well, don't ask stupid questions then, you jerk!"

"It _wasn't_ a stupid question; it was a very relevant and important one, actually, Beast Boy, and I'd appreciate it if you'd answer me properly!" Robin snapped.

Beast Boy mouthed _blah blah blah_ and turned his back on the Boy Wonder.

"B, this isn't funny anymore!" Cyborg said angrily, grabbing the shape-shifter by the shoulder and whipping him around. "Robin's right; it _was_ an important question, and if you're rude to him, or _any_ of us again, I'll knock you into the middle of next week!"

"Cyborg, _easy_," Robin interjected, putting his hand on his friend's arm.

"What _is_ he, your _lawyer!_" Beast Boy spat at Robin, pointing to Cyborg.

"No. He's my friend," Robin replied icily. "Like _you_."

Beast Boy shook himself loose from Cyborg's grip.

"You're not my friend," he said coolly, his pointed ears flattening. He swung round and stalked off ahead.

"Beast Boy-" Starfire started, floating after him, her hand outstretched.

"Get lost, Starfire!" Beast Boy snapped at her, not looking at her. Starfire shrank back, upset.

Raven looked behind her at Robin and their eyes locked. She knew what the shape-shifter was upset about, and she too had been through that same feeling of jealousy on Robin's behalf. But still, she had to admit that Beast Boy _was_ being a jerk about it.

Of course, _she_ had pushed Robin fully-clothed into a fountain…

Still, she was more inclined to side with Robin on this occasion. Robin might have been in the wrong, but he was genuinely sorry and he had apologised and the whole thing hadn't exactly been his fault in the first place. Plus, she wasn't really all that keen on Terra. Or Beast Boy, on some occasions, for that matter…

"B.B, come back here and apologise to Star!" Cyborg yelled after the shape-shifter's retreating back.

"Make me!" Beast Boy screeched back over his shoulder. Cyborg growled and started after the shape-shifter.

Suddenly the sky darkened dramatically and the 5 Titans all looked up to see a hail of huge boulders falling out of the sky with ease of rain.

Only with more devastating consequences.

Robin didn't even have time to yell "Titans, Go!" as the team sprang into action. Starfire and Raven took to the air, their starbolts and telekinesis shattering some of the boulders to dust and harmless pebbles that rained to earth effortlessly. Beast Boy changed into a gopher and burrowed underground to avoid being hit as some of the other boulders the girls had missed crashed to the desert ground with a noise like thunder. Cyborg shoved Robin behind him and took out another few with his proton cannon, while Robin rifled through his belt for an explosive disc. He found three and flung them, doing his bit and smashing an additional couple of boulders. The missed few fell to earth with the dust and remains of their brothers and all was still and eerily quiet. Robin pulled out his staff and gripped it tightly, and Cyborg's cannon buzzed slightly with the power it had yet to unleash. The two girls remained in the air, Starfire's eyes and hands glowing emerald, Raven's amethyst eyes white. Beast Boy surfaced and transformed back into his human form, crouched and ready for action.

A huge wall of rock burst from the ground, separating Robin and Cyborg from Beast Boy, Raven and Starfire.

"No!" Cyborg yelled, immediately turning his proton cannon on it.

"_Terra!_" Robin called to him, waving dust away from his face. Cyborg nodded and a smashing sound came from the other side of the wall, caused by the other three Titans. Then there was more smashing and Robin and Cyborg heard Starfire scream shrilly.

"Jeez, she's taking _them_ out first!" Robin wailed, pushing his hair out of his face. "Cy, we have to break that wall down!"

"Working on it, Boy Wonder!" Cyborg replied through gritted teeth, kicking up the wavelength on his built-in cannon. Robin ran forward, pulled out his last two explosive discs and slapped them on the rocky wall. They beeped and flashed and he stepped back as they exploded. They created only a crack.

"How _thick_ is it!" Cyborg shouted. "My cannon isn't doing anything!"

"I don't know!" Robin called back desperately. "Why don't they fly over! It's not _that_ high…"

Another smash and the wall shook slightly.

"What's she _doing_ to them!" Cyborg yelled, still with his cannon fixed on the wall. Robin shook his head hopelessly in reply.

"Cy, she split us up! _We_ can't fly, so we can't get over, and she's getting rid of Star, Raven and B.B first!"

"You wait 'til I get my hands on the traitorous little-"

Cyborg interrupted himself with a yell as another boulder hit him from the side, sending him flying across the ravine.

"CYBORG!" Robin shrieked. He ran to help his friend, his feet pounding on the dry ground, kicking up clouds of dust. He was sent sprawling in the same fashion as Cyborg as a rock caught him in the side of his ribcage. He tumbled over and over, clinging to his staff desperately, dizzy and bruised as he scraped to a halt. He felt a shadow fall across him and looked up and found Terra standing over him, her hands on her hips. She had her goggles on and her pale blue eyes behind them were sad. She wasn't smiling; she looked extremely upset.

"Terra, what do you think you're doing!" Robin snapped.

_Make yourself useful and tell B.B what really happened in that mine, oh, and while you're at it, assure him that you didn't suck me off…_

Terra was silent for a while.

"Following orders," she said quietly after a while. Robin got to his feet, gripping his staff tightly.

"Terra, _no_," he said in exasperation. "I've told you-"

"What _you_ tell me doesn't make any difference," Terra said softly, looking at the dusty ground. "You're not the one giving me orders anymore, Robin."

"What did you do to my friends?" Robin spat.

"I took care of them. Don't worry, I didn't hurt them too badly. They'll be alright…"

He snapped a kick at her chest, throwing her backwards several paces. She cried in pain as she landed in a heap.

"I was hoping it wasn't going to end up like this, Terra, " Robin said flatly. "But it's me or you, and I am _not_ allowing Slade to fulfil the prophecy."

Terra didn't answer as she got to her feet. Instead she asked;

"Did you tell him?"

Robin blinked, then scowled deeply.

"Yeah, and now Beast Boy's sulking with _all_ of us. _And_ he punched me."

"You _did_ tell him it was for _him_, though, didn't you?"

"Yes, but he didn't believe me. You should have told himself yourself while you were over there beating his brains out." Terra flinched slightly at that remark.

"You're right…"

"Then go and tell him, Terra. Stop chasing me and _tell_ him. Actually, _kiss_ him. That might be better…"

Tears started to run down Terra's face from beneath her protective goggles.

"Robin, I can't!" She sobbed. "Why can't you understand, it's not that simple! Although, you _should_ understand, because you were his apprentice before I ever was and you know he won't take _no_ for an answer! I have to do as he tells me…"

"No, you don't… Terra, I gave him _no_ for an answer. True, he didn't _like_ it, but here I am. A _Titan_, Terra, not his apprentice."

Terra sniffled.

"You don't get it, Robin… you really don't."

"Then _tell_ me."

Terra actually smiled.

"You always were sweet, even if you _were_ a mistrusting jerk."

"I trust you, Terra," Robin said softly. "I trust you to make the right decision."

"Robin, _don't_…" She pushed him away and her hand touched his "R" badge. She felt his heart beat beneath her fingers and she looked at him sadly. In a few minutes there would be a heebie-jeebie arrow sticking out of his chest… She searched his pale face and realised that she knew very little about him, and vice versa, but she _did_ know he didn't deserve to die, especially not by Slade's hand. He was the Avenger, the one born to save the world; he had been _raped_ because of that birthright and yet he just carried on… She couldn't possibly know what was beneath the confident, cool-as-ice act, but he was so _brave_… Not like her. He wasn't a weak little coward as she was. He hadn't agreed to serve someone evil to achieve his own ends, as she had; he had done it to protect his friends.

If she helped Slade to kill him, what did that make her?

"Robin, Slade's going to kill you!" She burst out, tears now running freely down her face. She grasped the front of his shirt in shaking hands. "It's a trap! You have to get out of here _now!_"

Robin blinked at her.

"_What?_ I thought he sent _you_ to-"

"No, _no_… Robin, you have to go! He's going to kill you!"

She was sobbing freely now, twisting the red fabric of his shirt in her grip.

"Where is he?" Robin demanded, gripping his staff.

"He's up there… He's going to shoot you in the heart… please, Robin, I don't want him to hurt you! You _have_ to get out of here _now!..."_

* * *

His one grey eye watched her intently. She was having second thoughts. She was sobbing all over Robin's shoulder, no doubt warning him of his fate.

Well, if _that_ wasn't annoying…

His eye narrowed. She wasn't going to wreck this now. He only had one arrow and if he missed…

Which he wouldn't. As long as Terra held him still, there wouldn't be a problem.

He picked up the arrow, letting the black silk shroud fall from it. He placed it in the bow and pulled back the bowstring until it quivered with the tautness. The sun caught the silver arrowhead and it glinted like a new dollar.

100ft below the sun also reflected off the oblivious Boy Wonder's "R" badge, which was within easy access with nothing blocking it. He smiled, anticipating the blood, Robin's dying scream for which he had been waiting so long.

He took aim and the sun glinted off the beautiful arrow once again…

* * *

"Terra, I don't get you-"

"You don't have to get me!" Terra cried hysterically. "You just have to get the heck _outta_ here!"

"_Robin!_ Get away from him, Terra!"

Cyborg was on his feet and was thundering towards them. His proton cannon was ready to fire and it was aimed at Terra.

"Cy, no! It' s ok!" Robin yelled at his friend.

"It's not ok!" Cyborg shouted, coming closer still. "She's going to _kill_ you!"

"No she isn't!" Robin said, exasperated. "Slade-"

He didn't finish as the arrow shot from the sky and sank into his chest, ripping right the through the hole of the "R" on his badge. He merely blinked as Terra gasped in horror, still holding his shirt.

"ROBIN!" Cyborg yelled, reaching them. He grabbed Terra and wrenched her away, throwing her roughly and powerfully aside. He caught Robin in his arms but the Boy Wonder hadn't even said so much as "Ouch". Instead he was looking down at his chest incredulously, a slight frown on his face. He should have been dead, but he wasn't. There was no blood at all either.

"_Oh my god_, Robin, are you ok!" Cyborg asked frantically, placing his large metal hand on Robin's forehead. It was a dumb question, but Robin looked up at him, still frowning.

"Am I imagining it, or is there an _arrow_ sticking out of my chest?" He asked quite seriously.

"No," Cyborg breathed. "No, you're not imagining it… Oh, Robbie, this sounds awful, but _why_ aren't you _dead?_ There's an _arrow_ sticking out of your _heart!_"

Robin shook his head.

"I don't know… It's weird… I feel… _ok_, Cy. It doesn't hurt."

He had no sooner said it than his eyes fluttered closed and he passed out. Cyborg caught him and picked him up, holding him to his powerful metal chest. The Boy Wonder lay there, still and unconscious, but breathing normally, as though asleep, the beautiful gothic arrow plunged into his heart which continued to beat effortlessly.

"Is he… ok?" Terra asked softly, getting timidly to her feet and reaching out a hand to touch the arrow. Cyborg snatched Robin out of her reach and she shrank back.

"He's fine, no thanks to _you!_" The half-robot snapped. "Get the hell out of here, Terra, before I finish you off myself."

Terra hesitated, then turned and ran, her feet kicking up clouds of dry dust. She wasn't running towards Slade, but anywhere, any direction just to get away, tears streaming down her dust-streaked face.

Cyborg heard a thud behind him as Raven, Starfire and Beast Boy in eagle-form landed on the dry ground.

"Cyborg… what happened?" Raven asked urgently.

"_This_," Cyborg replied quietly, turning to them and showing them the speared Boy Wonder. Raven gasped and Starfire screamed, her hands going to her mouth. Even Beast Boy, for all his anger and jealously, looked horrified.

"_Oh my_…" Raven breathed. "What _happened_ to him?..."

"Slade shot him."

"ROBIN!" Starfire screamed, lunging for him. Cyborg pulled him away as Raven grabbed hold of Starfire's left shoulder.

"Let me go, Raven!" Starfire sobbed. "_Robin!_"

Raven squeezed Starfire's shoulder, calming her, then brushed past her towards Robin. She extended her hand and placed it on his forehead, watching his chest rise and fall. His face was colourless, but he was warm to the touch.

"How can this be?" Raven whispered. She looked up at Cyborg. "He's alright…" She touched the glass shaft of the arrow, then ran her fingers down it onto Robin's ripped badge. She wriggled her fingers into the hole and ripped it wider to look at the wound. A hole in his chest housing the arrow, but that was all. No blood, not even a little. She heard Starfire sobbing behind her and rolled her purple eyes as she felt his forehead once again and concentrated her energy…

"He passed out from the shock," she concluded a few seconds later. "Not the entrance of the arrow. It appears to have caused no damage at all…" She looked back at Starfire and Beast Boy. "You hear that, Starfire? Bizarrely, he isn't hurt in any way…"

"But how…?" Starfire shook her auburn-maned head. "How can that be possible, Raven?"

"I don't know, Starfire… I wish I did."

Cyborg looked grim and turned to face Beast Boy.

"Well, you have your little blonde gal-pal to thank for this, B," he spat. Beast Boy's emerald eyes widened.

"No, Terra… she _wouldn't._.." he protested weakly. Raven frowned in response to this too.

"I thought you said _Slade_ shot him, Cyborg?"

"Slade _did_. _Terra_ was a distraction, and a damn good one too. Don't you see? She split us up, then took you three out first, 'cause y'all are the ones who can fly, and then she focused on me an' Robbie. And then she was comin' across all goody-goody to him, but she was actually holding him _still_…"

"Shut up, Cyborg!" Beast Boy snapped. "Terra would _never!_"

"Get over it, B.B!" Cyborg yelled back, furious. "However much you protect her and deny that she betrayed us and that she did _this_, whether you like it or not, she still did those things! She's not like she pretended she was, Beast Boy! She lied to us all, even _you!_"

Beast Boy was silent for a while.

"Where is she now?" He asked quietly. Cyborg snorted.

"I told her to get lost before I did her in like Robin should have three days ago."

"You… you…" Beast Boy's pointed ears flattened and he looked devastated. "You didn't even let me _talk_ to her!"

"Why would you _want_ to talk to her, Beast Boy?" Raven asked icily. "She's a liar and a traitor and she helped Slade to do _this_. I don't know what kind of arrow this is, but if it had been a normal one Robin would be dead, _we_ would be powerless and Slade's prophecy would be halfway fulfilled. Terra is _not_ on our side anymore, Beast Boy, and I know it's hard for you to accept but you _have_ to because things aren't going to change."

Beast Boy didn't reply and looked at the dusty ground.

"C'mon, y'all," Cyborg said heavily. "Let's get this poor guy home…"

"Do you think he will awaken?" Starfire inquired worriedly.

"He'd better, or I'll have Slade's goddamn ass," Cyborg said in reply, his voice actually quite expressionless.

"Besides, we've had enough of Robin playing _Sleeping Beauty_," Raven reminded them all dryly, referring to Poison Ivy and her little "games". Cyborg nodded grimly and started off first, closely followed by Starfire and Raven.

Only Beast Boy remained standing where he was, looking across the wasteland beyond the clear horizon.

"B, c'mon!" Cyborg called to him.

"Coming…"

The shape-shifter looked at the horizon again, as though trying to see something that was not really there, then turned and went after his friends.

Inside he was broken. He was pissed off at Robin, that arrogant, greedy, obnoxious jerk, but now the Boy Wonder was _hurt_… well, sort of. Maybe it was animal instinct, but Beast Boy got the feeling that, contrary to Raven's assumption, Robin was far from alright.

He didn't Robin to be hurt. Not again.

And he knew Raven was right about one thing.

Things weren't going to change.

_Terra…_

* * *

So B.B's sad as _well_ as mad now… _Aah_… He'll get over it. I love making him so rude to Robin, though…

_Cackle_…

Oh, and Robin is really NOT okay. Although I'm sure you figured that out yourselves…

Review me, baby, and I'll see about getting that next chapter up ASAP.

TTFN!

RobinRocks xXx


	8. OffKilter

Not such a long chapter tonight… You know, I really hope all you guys are enjoying this. I am still working on the third part, and Small Print too… plus I have a whole lot of homework and stuff, and I have been working on other one-shots… basically Chapter 8 of _Remember the Titans_ isn't going anywhere near as fast as I would like. I used to be able to turn out a 16-odd-page-long chapter of size 8 font in 3-4 nights. I started Chapter 8 of RTT in November and just haven't had much luck in getting it done…

Anyway, enough about that. We are still on Part 2 here…

So, to; YamiTai (I do still have the hard copy of _Lost in Ecstasy_, the Ivy fic, but it is way too long to type up and it's not very good anyway. I am thinking of rewriting it when I am done with this. Of course I will post it up then. And yeah, Roy gets into some trouble! Not for a while yet, though!); Quinn and His Quill (glad you liked that satiric line enough to review, you bum…); Seductive Angel (of _course_ Robin is not going to die… _yet_… XD); Phoenix Skyborne (yes, Slade's attempts at killing Robin are beginning to turn into a sort of Dick Dastardly-type "never-quite-able-to-do-it" travesty… and I will review Ch. 40 of _Changes_… as soon as I have read it! That damn Pam Rose…); Thrillzone (we're all RobinxCyborg shippers at heart, my friend :) And I am glad you like Terra, at least in this…); Rocky Wolf (more _Small Print_ soon, okay? Narroch06 and I are working on it!); Daybreak25 (well, I felt the licking thing was something I just _had_ to put in… :P); and last but not least my partner-in-crime Narroch06 (_Python Pathos_! _Small Print_! Beware the old people! Whoo-hoo!).

To you guys and all the non-reviewers; hope you like!

Slade has a cow here… :D

Off-Kilter

"What kind of arrow was _that!_" Slade demanded furiously.

He was pacing a trench into the floor of the main room of the "church". Moonlight fell through the windows and the stained glass created eerie blue, green and purple patterns across the floor.

It was midnight, almost ten hours since he had fired the arrow into his teen arch-nemesis' chest.

Lacking the result he had expected.

"No blood!" Slade spat. "Not even a _drop!_" He abruptly stooped pacing and whipped around to face the seer. "He didn't even _scream_…"

"Mmm…"

The seer didn't even look at him. Instead she was preoccupied with plaiting Terra's long blonde hair into an elaborate weave, decorating it with lengths of black velvet ribbon and gothic silver beads. Terra herself was sitting patiently in Slade's throne-like chair, her gloved hands folded in her lap. She was completely silent, but now and then would cast a nervous glance in her master's direction. He was not, to put it mildly, in a good mood.

"Will you _stop_ that infernal plaiting!" Slade snapped angrily. The seer looked at Terra briefly and smiled; the earth-mover giggled.

"I think somebody's jealous," the seer taunted. "Don't worry, my boy; I'll plait your hair afterwards. It's just a shame you're not as pretty as your little apprentice."

Slade muttered something that sounded distinctly like; "How would you know, I wear a mask" and folded his arms impatiently.

"Now, now, don't be all sulky," the seer reprimanded him calmly. "Tell me all about your little archery jaunt. I'm most anxious to hear about it."

"Well, it went very well, actually… apart from the fact that he didn't _die!_" Slade snapped.

"What were you expecting?"

"Blood. And screaming. And, oh, I don't know… _death_."

"Disappointed?"

"Well, _yes_. You said he'd _die_. And he _didn't!_"

The seer tutted and braided another ribbon into Terra's silky hair.

"I'm getting _sick_ of this!" Slade went on angrily. "What do you _gain_ by telling me all these lies! First about the boy's virginity, now the arrow-"

"I believe I've told you not to question me before, boy," the seer interrupted icily. "The rape issue I have dismissed. The arrow…" She sighed in a superior way. "_Men_. You're all so damn _impatient_."

"What _is_ there to be patient _about!_" Slade asked, exasperated. "It was an _arrow!_ It should have gone through his chest and come out the other side with his _heart_ speared on it!"

"It wasn't a normal arrow."

"Well, _obviously_…"

"So therefore you shouldn't have expected it to have the same effect as a normal arrow."

"But it went into his _heart!_ It definitely sank into him; it wasn't like it bounced off him. How can it have gone into his heart and not have killed him! Biologically speaking, it shouldn't be possible-"

"Correct. But that arrow was a very special one, with magical properties. Death will claim the Avenger soon enough, you have my word. But it may take a while…"

"By which time he could have wrecked the plan!"

"I very much doubt it. He will not be in any condition to do any… "Avenging"…"

Slade was silent and folded his arms.

"And your little apprentice…" The seer placed a wrinkled hand on Terra's blonde head. "Wasn't she something today?"

"No, she wasn't," Slade said irritably. "She almost wrecked the whole thing _again!_" He glared icily at Terra, who gazed miserably at her lap. "Terra, if I'd realised you were going to be so weak and foolish about this, then I would never have taken you on as my apprentice. You've gotten weaker. No doubt that ridiculous shape-shifter and that _damned_ Robin have been putting silly ideas into your head, about peace and love and justice…"

Terra sniffed miserably.

"I just couldn't do it," she said softly. "I'm not like you, Slade. I can't kill in cold blood like you can."

"It's alright, my dear," the seer answered before Slade could even open his mouth. "When the time comes you will play your part to perfection. Don't worry about anything he says…"

Slade snorted incredulously.

"And _you_," the seer said sharply, looking up at him. "Don't lose faith in me. The Avenger _will_ die, and his death will be unpleasant, you have my word."

She put the finishing touches to Terra's braid, still gazing fixedly at Slade.

"All you have to do is _be patient_…"

* * *

He opened his eyes and saw white. Nothing but white, and though he stared at it as though expecting something to suddenly materialise, nothing happened. 

He felt… _pain_, but it was dull. He couldn't even tell where it was, or if was actually even real.

He sat up and looked around. Immediately he understood the blank whiteness stretching above him.

He was in the sick bay of Titans Tower. Looking down he saw he had been lying on one of the hospital-style white-clothed beds. The bedclothes were creased beneath him as they were still made. He frowned and rubbed his shoulder blades. They were aching, as though he had been doing extortionate weight training and had pulled all the muscles.

He remembered the arrow going into his heart and looked down at his chest. His frown deepened. There was a rip in his shirt, right through his "R" badge, but when he looked at the bare skin beneath there was no wound at all.

"Robin! You are well again!"

Robin looked up to see an ecstatic Starfire soaring headlong at him. He couldn't possibly get out of the way and instead had to endure another of the alien girl's bone-crushing hugs. She pulled away from him and beamed.

"I am glad you are awake," she said happily. "We have all been worried about you. We took out the arrow and Raven was going to heal the wound but it just healed itself immediately so there was no need for her to."

Robin blinked.

"It healed… _itself?_" He asked, puzzled. Starfire nodded profusely.

"Yes. It was very strange, and Beast Boy and Cyborg both said things that I could not understand…"

"Starfire, how is…?"

Raven had appeared in the doorway of the sick bay, and had trailed off when she had seen Robin awake and sitting up, massaging his arms from where Starfire had hugged him.

"Nice nap?" Raven drawled, coming into the room. Robin quirked an eyebrow.

"Yeah, great…"

She came up to him and put her hand on his forehead.

"Are you feeling ok?" She asked, her tone becoming serious again.

Robin nodded.

"Yeah…" He flexed his shoulders and grimaced. "_Ouch_… my shoulders ache a bit, though. My whole upper back, actually…"

Raven removed her hand.

"Well, I'm sure that's nothing to worry about," she stated. "You've probably just pulled the muscles in the gym or something. You _have_ been working out quite a lot these past few days."

Robin nodded again.

"Yeah, you're right… sure is annoying though…"

Raven had been taught the art of massage and relaxation in Azarath; she could ease his pain if she so wanted.

But no way was she giving Wonder Boy a massage.

"You're sure you're ok, though?" She pressed. "Absolutely _sure? _Robin, if you feel weird or anything, you _have_ to tell us. That arrow Slade shot into you… it wasn't a normal one…"

"Well, yeah, otherwise I'd be _dead_, and you'd be wandering around saying "Azarath Metrion Zinthos" and wondering why things aren't flying across the room."

Raven frowned at him, but refrained from replying and instead reached behind her to one of the bedside cabinets, where she retrieved the arrow. She dropped it silently into his lap. Starfire immediately reached for it.

"Starfire, it isn't a toy," Raven warned her off coolly. Starfire withdrew her hand and looked sulky.

"Slade shot me with _this?_" Robin breathed, examining the intricate design of the arrow and admiring it. He touched the tip of the head with his thumb; even through his glove he could feel how sharp it was. "I should _so_ be pushing up daisies…"

"Yeah, well, that's why we're concerned," Raven murmured. "_Look_ at the thing; you should have been killed instantly. But you weren't, and the wound it created just healed over completely as soon as we removed the arrow. I've examined it thoroughly; it has mystical properties, as though some kind of spell has been cast on it or something…"

He looked blankly at her and she sighed; Starfire looked "Situation Vacant" too, and was absently braiding a strand of her long red hair.

"Robin, isn't it _obvious?_ That arrow wasn't _meant_ to kill you. It was meant to fulfil some other purpose, although I am not sure what. Maybe it was supposed to cast a spell on you, bewitch you or enchant you… I don't know, but this situation mustn't be taken lightly. Slade's getting help from somewhere concerning the fulfilment of this prophecy; I mean, where _else_ would he get a magic arrow? Or _why?_ Magic isn't Slade's deal, Robin; _you_ should know that better than any of us. He's a technology guy, like _you_. Technology can be dangerous, but _magic_…" She shook her head in despair. "Magic is far more dangerous than technology could _ever_ be, and if Slade doesn't know what he's doing, whoever's supplying him could be using him as a cat's paw…"

She shook her head again; her hood was still up, shadowing her face. Then she looked up and breathed out heavily.

"Well, there's nothing we can do right now. We're just going to have to keep an eye on you, make sure nothing weird happens to you. If you sprout fangs or anything, you have to tell me."

He blinked at her, his expression still blank.

"Oh, Robin, you're such an _airhead_ sometimes!" Raven snapped. "No doubt all that rich-boy acting when you were living with Bruce, pretending you were _delighted_ to be at those fancy parties with all those _other_ airheads… Look, if anything changes, Robin, whether it's physical or mental or anything… if you feel different, no matter how embarrassing or whatever it is, _you have to tell me_. It's very important. Understood?"

He nodded and looked back down at the arrow in his hands. He was frowning at the shaft. It was clear glass, and… he flicked it, hearing a high-pitched clink. It was hollow.

"This is such a weird arrow," he remarked. "Listen." He flicked it again. "Hollow…" He frowned at it and brought it up close to his face. "Do you reckon it had something in it?"

"I hope not," Raven said weakly. "Because if there _was_, whatever it was is now inside _you_."

"Not necessarily," Robin countered logically. "This arrow looks kinda old. If it was a liquid it could have evaporated by now. Or hey, maybe it was in this arrow Slade found the prophecy… yeah, if it was rolled up real tight it could have fitted in here easy!"

Raven shrugged.

"Maybe, Sherlock," she said blandly. She yawned and stretched.

"Jeez, I'm tired," she said, suddenly sleepy. She looked at Robin sceptically. "It's late, you know. You've been out about nine hours…"

She walked towards the door.

"I think I'll get something to drink, then go to bed," she decided aloud. She looked back at Robin and Starfire. "Coming?"

Robin nodded and Starfire floated off the bed and flew to the door, Robin not far behind her, still with the arrow in his gloved hand.

"I'm taking it to my room," he explained as Raven glanced quickly at it. She nodded silently.

"Alright, but don't go fooling about with it," she warned. "I've told you, it has some kind of spell cast on it…"

He nodded in reply and together the three of them left the sick bay, bound for the kitchen. Halfway there Robin changed his mind and doubled back.

"Where are you going?" Starfire inquired, as she and Raven watched him go.

"Gym," he replied simply over his shoulder.

"_Again?_" Raven asked incredulously. "Robin, it's 11pm."

Robin shrugged, then winced as his shoulder muscles pulled again.

"I'm going to loosen up these muscles," he explained. "They're totally bugging me…"

Raven opened her mouth to tell him that _more_ exercise wasn't going to help, and that what he really needed was a massage – which _she_ wasn't going to give him - and probably a nice hot bath and a good night's sleep, too. But she shut it again; it wasn't like he would pay attention to her health warning. He just liked to punch and kick and throw and break stuff.

She shrugged herself.

"Suit yourself."

She went off after Starfire and Robin went his own way to the gym. Once there he put the arrow down on one of the wooden benches at the side and sat down heavily next to it, placing his head in his hands. His back was really starting to hurt, now feeling more like a burning than a muscular ache. He couldn't remember ever pulling anything this badly, nor could he recall exerting his back to much work in the past few days. He hadn't bothered with the weights for at least a week; mostly he had been practicing katas or fooling around doing gymnastics and acrobatics until he was dizzy.

He couldn't help but wonder if the pain did in fact have anything to do with the magic arrow.

He backcombed his hair roughly with his gloved hands, his head almost on his knees, trying to bite back the pain spreading through his shoulders and back.

_C'mon, Dickie, it's nothing a good workout can't ease…_

He exhaled deeply and heavily and sprang to his feet, dusting his hands together.

He headed for the punchbag and knew he was in for a long and exhausting night…

* * *

So what is up with our dear Boy Wonder? 

_(Gleefully rubs hands together)_

Well, hope y'all liked it! BB and Cy weren't in it, though… don't worry, they'll be back cracking stupid jokes next chapter!

And yeah, the seer needs a good smack over the head with her walking stick…

More _Small Print_ soon, and Narroch06 and I are working on something lese at the moment, too! Read my RobinxSlade one-shot _Run To You_? It's another song-fic (you'd think I would have learned my lesson about those things…) to the Bryan Adams song of the same name… Well, soon there will more to it…

Yay!

Well, read and review, guys!

TTFN!

- RobinRocks xXx


	9. Becoming

I AM BACK! Yes, I have been forced to stage yet another triumphant return, and that is because I got in trouble with the admins again. Another song fic. This time I blame Bryan Adams, not Shakira… My song-fic _Run To You_ got found…

So I was temporarily banned again, but not to worry; I'm back with a special double bill (of sorts)!

Two chapters today, guys! This is a pivotal chapter, where the real action of the prophecy begins to take off. Hope y'all enjoy it!

Big thanks to: YamiTai, Phoenix Skyborne, Quinn and His Quill, DayBreak25, Rocky Wolf, Thrillzone, Seductive Angel, my co-writer Narroch06 and any other readers! I am just glad that you even take the time to read it! Thankyou so much!

And at least I wasn't jetting off to NYC the day I was allowed back on this time… But those liars; they said 3rd March and then I SWEAR they extended it to 6th March...

Becoming

He hadn't been asleep for very long when he was awoken by a terrible ripping pain in his back. He sat up in bed, the sheets falling away from his bare torso, then doubled over and groaned. It was absolutely unbearable and he knew there was something terribly wrong. This wasn't muscle pain, and he also doubted that his two hour long workout had made it any worse.

This was something entirely different.

And he was frightened.

He hauled himself out of bed, groaning again as the pain worsened. It felt like he was being stabbed in the shoulder blades mercilessly and repeatedly. He staggered to his door and leaned against the wall. He could barely stand up but he knew he had to get to Raven's room and tell her that something wasn't right. Maybe she could even stop the pain…

He got out into the corridor and dragged himself down it to Raven's door, where he put his hands on the doorframe to support himself and kicked the door painfully with a bare foot.

"_Raven, come on_…"

She didn't take very long answering and the panel slid back, revealing Raven in a black silk nightgown, one spaghetti strap off her shoulder. She was scowling, but this expression was quickly replaced by one of fear as she saw the Boy Wonder swaying her doorway, breathing heavily to combat the pain.

"Robin… oh my god, what's wrong!" She asked in horror. He looked up at her and she could see he was in terrible pain.

"_My back_… it's not the muscles… it's something _else_…"

He keeled forwards and she caught him around his bare chest.

"It's ok," she breathed. "Come on, come in here, it'll be alright…"

She half-dragged him into her dark gothic bedroom and let him collapse to his knees.

"Ok, where does it hurt?" She asked, crouching down beside him.

"_Shoulders_…" he said between gasping breaths. "And most… of my back, really… there's something _wrong_, Ray…"

He groaned again and she ran a cool hand over his back.

"It's alright, you were sensible to come to me," she told him. "Come on… get up, let's get you onto the bed so you can lie down…"

It took her a good five minutes to haul him over to her circular bed, and he wasn't much help.

"Here, lie on your stomach so I can get at your back," she told him. He obliged, gratefully collapsing onto the soft satin sheets.

She smiled grimly.

"Sorry if this seems a little suggestive, Robin…"

She straddled him and sat on the backs of his thighs, then ran her hands over his back. It was a little late, but maybe that massage would help after all…

She started on his shoulder blades and he shrieked in pain.

"_Ouch_… Raven, that _hurts!_..." He protested breathlessly.

"Sorry, but I'm afraid it _will_ hurt," she apologised. She carried on down his back, hearing him cry softly in pain whenever she hurt him, which was quite often.

Then she felt it. There was something there, deep within his back, almost "V" shaped coming from each shoulder blade and sinking out of touch depth nearing the small of his back.

"Robin," she said hollowly. "There's something here…"

She ran her hands over the "V" and heard him moan in pain.

"That's where it… hurts the _most_," he gasped. "Don't touch… it again…."

"_No wonder_," Raven murmured in response. "I don't know what it is…" She touched his shoulder blades again, for that was where the "V" was most prominent. He groaned again.

"Raven… _don't!_"

She could feel him starting to writhe beneath her, kicking his legs. Once or twice he caught her in the spine and she yelped in pain.

"Robin, quit it!" She snapped.

"Get off!" He wailed. "_Please_, Raven… _get off_… it hurts…. Oh, _it hurts_…"

She got off him and he immediately rolled over so that he was on his back. He was wriggling desperately, trying to burrow his back into the soft sheets of her bed for relief. His bare chest was heaving with every breath he drew and he was grasping handfuls of her black satin sheets and wrenching at them as though he thought it would help ease the pain. She could see him kicking his legs restlessly too, disallowing her to get near him again. He was groaning desperately by this point, his teeth gritted against the pain, his eyes behind his mask squeezed shut.

"Robin, if you hold still, I can try and relieve the pain for you," Raven told him frantically. He didn't seem to hear her, but he instead demanded breathlessly that she try to relieve the pain – understandably, her expression became very deadpan at that point.

She reached out a hand to him and withdrew it sharply as he narrowly missed kicking her. She scowled.

"Robin, you _have_ to lie still for me to even _attempt_-"

He did kick her this time, accidentally of course, but he was trained in martial arts and even a clumsy kick like that was strong and painful. She cut herself off with a cry of pain and moved out of his reach. He wasn't all that tall, which meant his legs were kind of short, for which she glad of at this point; it meant she didn't have to move that far from him. She took a deep breath, assessing her options of how to help him, and he handed her the answer by briefly pausing in his regime of agonised writhing. She seized the opportunity and pounced headlong at him, landing heavily on him and wrestling him still. Even in the pain he was in he was putting up one hell of a fight, but she won him over eventually and straddled him again, this time sitting on his stomach as Terra had in the mine all but four days ago.

"Now, if you just-"

She cut herself yet again with a surprised cry as he bucked his hips, trying to throw her off. The result was that she pitched forwards on him instead; not the result he had been hoping for, to say the least.

"Raven, _get off!_" He wailed. "You're too heavy!"

Raven raised her eyebrows as she straightened herself up and settled back on his stomach again.

"Remind me to slap you for that one," she muttered coolly. She put her hands on his chest and he bucked again, this time more violently, but she managed to keep her balance by pushing down on his chest.

"Robin, you're _really not helping_…"

She tried to concentrate and summon her powers but he was making it very difficult for her by groaning and wriggling and attempting to chuck her off him.

"Sorry, are we interrupting anything?"

Raven heard Beast Boy's newly-malicious voice coming from her open doorway and didn't face him. She heard him approach, and then more footsteps indicating that he had Cyborg and Starfire in tow.

"Raven, what exactly are you _doing?_" Cyborg asked cautiously. "'Cause, you know, we heard Robin moaning and we came in here – the door was open by the way – and, I mean…" He trailed off uncomfortably.

"I know what it looks like," Raven said icily without the slightest trace of embarrassment. And she did; here she was, she had Robin - half-naked, no less, dressed only in black pyjama shorts - pinned underneath her, and she was straddling him really quite low down on his torso, plus Robin was really wriggling and yes, _moaning_, and although they certainly weren't moans of pleasure, when you got right down to it, all moans kind of sounded alike.

"But I can assure you it isn't," she finished flatly. "I'm trying to keep him still, but he… _won't_…"

"Well, can we help?" Cyborg pressed. Raven didn't reply for a few seconds, still wrestling with Robin.

"Yeah, probably," she answered eventually. "He's in agony, Cyborg; _that's_ why he's moaning. The arrow's done something to him. He keeps saying something about his back and when I touched it… there's something there… I don't know what but it definitely shouldn't be there-"

Robin brought his knees up and threw her headfirst off his stomach as he had retaliated against Terra in the mine all those days ago. She tumbled into her pillows and struggled to right herself as Robin rolled over and leapt off the bed, fleeing like a stalked rabbit halfway across the room.

"_For Pete's sake_…" Raven could feel herself getting hot. "Robin, come back here _now!_"

"What is the matter with him?" Starfire inquired worriedly.

"I _told_ you, there's something wrong with his back… I don't know for sure, but the arrow definitely had something to do with it…" Raven sighed and slipped off her bed, treading cautiously in her bare feet after Robin.

He had retreated to a dark corner of her room and was clinging to a tall Bath stone pillar, depicting six or seven gothically carved faces each showing a different expression. He was on his knees and scrabbling at the pillar like a cat on a scratching post.

"Dude, is he ok?" Beast Boy asked, concerned no matter his jealously.

"Does he _look_ ok, green man?" Cyborg asked witheringly.

"Raven, you must make him better now!" Starfire called hopefully from where she, Cyborg and Beast Boy stood on the sidelines. The alien girl started forwards and Cyborg caught her shoulder.

"Don't crowd him," he said calmly. "Let Ray handle it…"

Starfire hesitated, then nodded and remained where she was.

"Robin, come on," Raven coaxed softly, padding softly towards him, her hand outstretched. It was like trying to tame a shy animal and actually she would rather have just pounced on him again and wrestled him to the floor, but she wasn't near enough to him. He had his back to her and she could clearly see the "V" now; it had become very prominent within the past five or so minutes, as though it was going to burst through his skin at any moment. He was breathing very heavily and moaning a little, his head bowed and his hands clinging so tightly to the pillar they were white.

"Jeez, what's up with his back!" Beast Boy remarked, horrified.

"That's what I told you about," Raven said over her shoulder. "That's what causing the pain, but he won't let me near enough to him to get a good look at it…"

He groaned deeply as though in response, but she knew that it was a just a coincidence as she suddenly saw crimson liquid trickle from his shoulder blades. He was bleeding.

"_Oh my god_… Raven, what's _wrong_ with him!" Cyborg asked frantically, rushing forwards himself, Beast Boy and Starfire close behind him.

"I've told you, I don't know," Raven replied icily. She put out an arm to stop them from coming any further.

"Stay where you are. You'll only panic him."

They all looked at his back. The streams of blood were becoming thicker and were flowing faster as the wounds – wherever they had come from – got wider. Then they all audibly gasped – including Robin himself – as the "V" shaped _moved_.

"_Gross_," Beast Boy murmured, horrified. Starfire merely put her hands to her mouth and could utter no sound.

Robin smacked his head against the pillar deliberately and leaned against it, breathing shallowly. Raven was able to get near to him and crouched down next to him. She held his right upper arm firmly but gently and squeezed him little, making him look at her.

"_There's something… coming, Raven_…" he said softly. She could hear it in his tone and read it in his expression how frightened he was. "I don't know… _what_, I can just… _feel_ it… There's _something_ there…"

He looked at the floor again and groaned.

"_What's happening to me, Raven?_" He whispered. Raven shook her head in despair.

"I don't know… but it'll be alright, _I promise_…"

He nodded a little and drew another heaving breath and then moaned as the "V" moved again, stirring the wounds and making them bleed even more. Raven bit her lip and released his arm.

"Look, I'll just get something to wipe away the blood," she told him gently. "And then I'll see what I can do for you."

She rose and went to the side of her bed, retrieving her cloak, as it was the first thing that came to hand, and then went back to him, passing the other Titans silently. He gave another shuddering, agonized groan as she approached him, her cloak in both hands, and she was millimetres from him when his premonition came true.

Something burst from each of his shoulder blades in a shower of blood, tearing apart his flesh, and he understandably screamed in excruciation as they made their leeway. Raven was splattered in his blood but was so much in shock she merely wiped it out of her amethyst eyes as she stared at him silently.

The other three were similarly bewitched.

_Wings_…

Wrinkled and folded as they were new, yet to be unfurled and used, soaked in blood and some kind of fluid.

Robin moaned under his breath and passed out.

Still his friends were silent.

Starfire broke the spell first.

She screamed.

* * *

"Here…" 

Raven entered her bedroom again, washed up and blood-free, clad in a black satin robe that fell to just above her knees. In her hands she carried a basin of hot soapy water, and over her shoulder an assortment of face-cloths and towels. She made her way over to the other four Titans, who were sitting in a rough semi-circle in the middle of her floor. The room glowed eerily by the light of at dozen or so candles scattered around.

Robin was conscious again, but was merely looking at the floor, silent. He was covered in blood and that strange fluid, and his new wings were still crumpled and wet like a newly-emerged butterfly's.

"Robin, spread them out," Beast Boy said for what must have been the twentieth time; in the excitement of things he had forgotten that Robin was Number One in his black books. "Let's see them."

"No."

Robin sounded like he was going to cry. Certainly he was in shock, but thankfully he hadn't been out for very long.

"Leave him, Beast Boy," Raven said coolly, setting the basin down and dropping the towels next to it. "Starfire, come on. Come and help me."

Starfire hesitated, then rose and went over to Raven.

"What is it that you wish me to help you with, Raven?" She inquired.

"We have to clean them up," Raven replied simply. "This is the best way to do it…" She picked up the basin again and Starfire retrieved the towels, and together they moved behind Robin; he was completely oblivious, so absorbed was he in the floor.

Raven frowned as she looked at his back. The wounds the wings had created had healed completely, so that it looked as though they had always been a part of his anatomy. But that was far from true. Even with them folded he looked so strange, so unnatural…

"Robin, we'll need you to spread them," Raven said softly. He looked up and turned his head to see her.

"What are you doing?"

_He really is stupid when he wants to be…_

"Cleaning them up, idiot," she replied matter-of-factly. "We have to. You can't run around with them like that."

"I don't want to run around with them _at all_…"

"I know, but before we even start worrying about them, we have to clean them. They're all bloody, and let's face it, the shower is, as of now, _out_. So could you spread them please, so Starfire and I can wash them up."

"I don't know if I _can_," he said truthfully. "I mean, I can _feel_ them, but I don't know if I can _move_ them…"

"Just try."

He took a deep breath.

"Ok…"

He opened them easily and spread them right out, stretching them to the tips. They all gasped.

They were big, but not overly huge so that he would struggle to carry their weight, and ironically resembled a bat's wings, with long bony spines and thin, black – almost purple-tinted – skin stretched across them. At the edge of the arc, the longest spine, on each wing there was a tiny little clawed hand, only three fingers and something that could probably pass as a thumb, and that too added to the bat-like air. The skin was wrinkled by the wetness, and they were both beautiful and absolutely horrific at the same time. They were the stuff of nightmares, and yet they didn't look all that nightmarish on him. Maybe it was his jet black hair or his mask or the fact that his skin was completely white from shock, but he looked ok. Not normal, certainly, but ok. A hybrid, almost.

"I guess it was too much to expect _angel_ wings from you, huh, Robbie?" Cyborg joked weakly, grinning half-heartedly.

"Yeah, now you really _are_ Batboy," Beast Boy added, not without malice.

"_Beast Boy_," Raven reprimanded him icily. "Shut the hell up."

She took one of the white face-cloths and soaked it in the warm water, then wrung it out halfway and started to clean the blood and fluid from Robin right wing; Starfire mirrored her on the left. Both wings twitched a little at the initial touch, but soon calmed down and he sat there patiently as the two female Titans washed his two new attributes clean for him.

"The pain's gone now, Robin?" Raven asked, dipping her facecloth back into the basin and wringing it out again.

Robin nodded.

"Yeah… it was _these_ things, wasn't it? And when they came through it went."

Raven nodded in reply, focusing on the wing she was washing. She frowned; _how_ could she _not_ have thought of _wings?_ Sure, it was far-fetched, but a "V" shape coming from his shoulder blades? Obviously they had been crammed into that shape beneath his flesh, and that coupled with the fact that they were obviously growing pretty quickly and trying the force their way out of his back had caused the pain. She winced at the memory.

No wonder he had been groaning.

She finished the rest of the job in silence, put the cloth in the basin and took a towel. She gently dried his wing and Starfire followed suit.

"There, all done," she told him when Starfire had finished folding the towel neatly. She took it from the alien girl and stood, slinging the towels back over her shoulder and retrieving the basin. She left the room and returned around a minute later; the other four were all just standing around in awkward silence, Robin's wings half-folded.

"Think there'll be any more dilemmas tonight, Ray, O Problem Solver?" Cyborg teased. Raven yawned in response.

"I hope not," she said. "I'm so tired I could sleep for a century…"

She looked at Starfire; the alien girl was wearing black cami shorts and a knock-off black T-shirt with the Bat-signal emblazoned on it devised by con artists in downtown Gotham intent on making a quick buck by franchising Batman's persona. She was standing next to Robin and really the effect was quite amusing; a slapdash black bat-resembling silhouette against real bat wings. The Tamaranean girl was very quiet; unusual, really, for her, because usually it was difficult to get her to shut up.

Shock, probably, by the events of the past 24 hours. Robin had firstly been shot through the heart, and now had suddenly lived up to his reputation, as Beast Boy had so heartlessly put it, as "Batboy" and sprouted wings. Whether he could actually _fly_ with them or not remained to be seen, but still…

"Let's go to bed," Raven said, addressing them all, but looking directly at Starfire. The alien girl caught her eye and nodded, then turned silently and hugged Robin.

"You will be alright now?" She asked him softly as she pulled away. He nodded and smiled weakly.

"Yeah, I'll be… fine, Starfire…"

She beamed in reply and left the room first. Beast Boy followed her out, yawning and muttering a faint "goodnight".

"You cool, Robbie?" Cyborg asked as he too started to leave.

Robin nodded again.

"Yeah, cool. Thanks, Cy."

Cyborg nodded curtly.

"Well, you hang tight. 'Night, Ray…"

He left too and then it was just the two "birds" left alone in Raven's room. There was another awkward silence between them, until Robin finally broke it with a weak giggle.

"I feel really underdressed," he said feebly, looking down at himself.

"You are," Raven agreed blandly. She started to giggle too. "Oh, can you _imagine_ what they must have thought when they walked in and you were moaning and I was on top of you? Oh, _jeez_…" She put her face in her hands and gave way to laughing. "I mean, the one and only time we _were_ in here… _you know_… the first and only time, right after that thing with Ivy, and they didn't even _twig_, even though they were all outside the door and everything, wondering where we had vanished to, and Starfire knocked in the middle of it all and I had to go and tell her to get lost, and they just never figured it out, and I mean, we really _were_ quite loud, if I remember. I'm certain I screamed at some point, and _you_ weren't straight out of a silent movie either… And they _never_… and then they walk in here when all I'm doing is trying to keep you still, and they think we're…"

They were both laughing helplessly by this point. Robin managed to control himself first and Raven stopped soon after, although they were both still giggling slightly.

Robin looked at the floor.

"Um, Raven?" His voice had gone very quiet, almost shy; very unusual for him. He wasn't a particularly loud or pushy person, but he was far from shy. Well, most of the time.

"Just… thanks, ok? For not freaking out on me. I'm really glad I can count on you…"

Raven nodded primly.

"That's ok." She sighed heavily. "I just hope that's the last of the effects from the arrow…"

"Yeah, me too…" He smiled at her, then frowned as he rustled his wings. "_Ugh_, I don't like these things at all. How am I supposed to sleep or have a shower or put on my shirt now?"

Raven moaned.

"Robin, _please_; can we worry about that tomorrow? I'm shattered…"

"Sorry, Raven… Goodnight…" He turned to leave, finding it a little difficult to balance with his new acquires.

Raven caught hold of his wrist and he turned back to look at her.

"Robin, you sleep in here," she told him. "My bed's very wide, so you can spread your new "friends" out. I'll go in your room."

Robin blinked.

"Are you… sure?"

Raven nodded.

"Sure, it's fine. I think you've been through enough today. You deserve a good night's sleep at least…"

"Ok. Thanks…"

Raven nodded again, hesitated… then very unexpectedly moved in to him and kissed him swiftly on the cheek.

"And if you get any more trouble, _anything_… come and get me, ok?" She said as she pulled back. He couldn't speak, only nodded.

She smiled.

"Well, goodnight, Wonder Boy… sleep well…"

She left, putting all but one candle on the beside table out with her powers, and slid the panel shut behind her.

He precariously made his way over to the bed, slid under the soft covers, blew out the candle and settled back, stretching his wings right out. They felt weird, but not horrible. He could stand them at least.

They were just going to take a bit of getting used to.

And now he really was "Batboy"; Beast Boy had meant it nastily, but he was right.

His masked eyes slid shut and within minutes he was fast asleep…

* * *

Mwa ha ha ha ha ha ha haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! 

I'm saying _NOTHING!_

(Continuation of insane evil laughter)

Wanna find out what happens next? The next chapter is up too, just for you…

- RobinRocks xXx


	10. Will The Real Boy Wonder Please Stand Up

Again, I am saying _nothing_… just read on, and I truly hope you are enjoying yourselves…

Will the Real Boy Wonder Please Stand Up?

When he awoke it was still dark; he reminded himself that Raven's room was always dark. He should have known, he had slept in here twice times now, once alone and once…

He smiled and lay in the dark for a while, one hand on his stomach and the other behind his head. Raven's room was very calming, due to all the meditation she practiced and all the incense she burned. Gradually his breathing slowed, sedated, and he could feel himself drifting drowsily back to sleep.

That plan of action was cut short as the panel slid open, giving access to very unwelcome light from the corridor. He opened his eyes and sat up to see Raven entering her room and using her powers to slide the door shut behind her. At once all was plummeted into darkness again but he heard her approach, find the box of matches at her bedside and light the candle.

"Good, you're awake," she said matter-of-factly. "Pleasant sleep?"

"Mmm." He nodded slightly and stretched; his wings involuntarily stretched too. "What time is it?"

"9:30 am, I think," Raven replied. She held up the objects in her hands; in one was a pair of silver scissors, a needle and a spool of red thread, in the other one of his many red "R" motif shirts.

He frowned, puzzled.

"What are _they_ for?" He inquired, nodding at the sewing equipment in her right hand.

"Well, it's like you said last night. _How_ are you going to get your shirt on now? You can't exactly wander around topless all day, and I went through your closet and got this and I figured that since you have so many of them it wouldn't hurt to wreck just one of them…"

She put the sewing tools down on the bed and held up his shirt.

"So, if you get up, I'll put this on for you," she said. "I'll slit it up the back to the shoulder seams so you can get those wings of yours through it, then I'll sew up the rip so that the back isn't hanging open…"

Robin blinked.

"You're going to _sew_ me _into_ it?"

Raven shrugged.

"Yeah, kind of. But not really; I'm just going to tack it loosely, so when you want to take it back off tonight all you have to do is pull the thread out. Simple enough?"

He nodded.

"Yeah, it's good idea, Ray," he admitted. She nodded primly and pulled back the covers; he took the hint and slid out of her bed and sat on the edge. She settled next to him, took up the scissors and started to snip up the back of his shirt. She cut right up to the right shoulder, then cut up to the left, so that the red material hung in three strips.

"Ok, arms up," she said shortly. He obliged and she pulled it on over his head, the rips settling over where his new wings emerged from his back. She pulled it straight and he laughed weakly.

"I feel like such a baby," he stated, not without a little embarrassment. "I mean, you're dressing me like you're my mom…"

"I'm not dressing you, I'm helping you," Raven rephrased. She threaded the needle and started to loosely stitch his shirt back together. "Keep still or you'll get a needle in your spine…"

He sat there good as gold as she finished and broke the thread.

"There goes your pouty male model look," she teased, patting his chest. "No more showing off that fabulous sinewy body or the washboard abs, huh?"

"You're _hilarious_," he replied dryly, knowing that she was making fun of him. Raven smiled.

"Sorry, that was rotten… I guess you can't help being a skinny little shrimp."

Robin was insulted.

"I'm taller than _you_," he retorted.

"Just." She ruffled his hair and he slapped her off, finding that insulting too. He got up and backed away.

"Ok, Raven, thanks for the hospitality and all, but I'm going to leave now before you completely smash my ego."

"It would take a _sledgehammer_ to smash _your_ ego, Robin…"

She smirked as he stalked out and headed for the bathroom to wash up and brush his teeth. He locked the bathroom door and crossed to the sink and caught his reflection in the full length mirror.

He gasped.

He could only stare in dismay at himself. He looked like a monster; a half-breed demon. Or course, Raven _was_ a half-breed demon, but _she_ looked pretty much normal. She didn't have horrible bat-like wings sticking out of her back.

He could feel himself slipping in the grasp of depression. There was _no way_ he could go outside looking like _this_. It wasn't even vanity, it was… people would think he was some kind of, well, _monster_. And he _wasn't_.

He _was_ still human, right? These wings… they didn't change anything, did they?

When he had been very little, growing up the circus with his mom and dad, he had wished he had been able to fly; after all, didn't _every_ little kid dream of flight? He had heard the tales of Superman, too, wonderful, heroic Superman, with his super strength and flight and laser eyes… he too had wanted powers like that. And now, more than a decade on, he was a Teen Titan, the leader of a group of superpowered teenage superheroes, and the only one on the team with no powers at all. Why, only the other day he and Terra had exchanged views on being normal; Terra would have given anything to be normal, while Robin himself would have sold his soul to be anything _but_ normal.

And now he wasn't. He had got what he wanted, and suddenly he didn't want it anymore. Classic human nature, but it was more than that. _This_ wasn't a superpower… _this_ was…

He didn't know how to describe it. They weren't an asset, that much he knew. True, there was the possibility he could fly with them, but on the ground they would most certainly slow him down. They made it difficult to balance too, so how on earth was he supposed to perform martial arts and acrobatics now? How could he fight and run, how could he dress properly instead of wearing a cut-up shirt stitched together, how could he shower and sleep in his own room?...

He appreciated what Cyborg and Beast Boy must have gone through when they had acquired their powers. Cyborg had once told him that it had taken him almost a year to fully come to terms with the fact that he was no longer normal, and never would be again. The Boy Wonder had sympathised, but hadn't really been able to understand the feeling of utter despair and horror and depression.

Now he did.

He washed up and gelled his hair and left the bathroom, trailing down the corridor wanting to lock himself in his room and never come out for as long as he lived. He went into his room and retrieved his uniform from different corners and crevices, pulling it on as he went. The cape was a pain in the butt as it now wouldn't fall fully down his back, but was instead creased a little between his wings. It _did_ hide the stupid tack marks down his shirt though.

He went back to the door and was about to open it but instead he just stood there staring at the metal panel. Then he turned his back to it and leaned against it, his head tilted back against the cold metal, his wings being pushed flat out by the pressure.

_I can't do this…_

There was a soft knocking at his door and he heard Starfire timidly call his name from beyond it. He wasn't going to reply but felt mean, and so turned and opened the door slightly and peeped out at her.

"Yeah?"

"Are you alright?" She asked him quietly; he looked at her and noticed her sad expression.

"Yeah, I'm ok..." He opened the door a little wider so that she could see more of him. She couldn't see his wings, though.

"Cyborg said to tell you that he won Beast Boy over this morning and that breakfast is ready," Starfire told him, clasping her hands together as though she was pleading with him.

"Yeah…" He looked away briefly. He couldn't go downstairs, not like this. "Listen, Star… I'm not going down to breakfast." He looked up at her again and saw that she was frowning.

"But Robin, surely you are hungry?" She inquired, confused.

"No, I'm fine," he assured her. He was flat out lying; he had been working out very hard before going to sleep the night before, and then after the night's events, he had worked up quite an appetite. He was starving, frankly, and he could feel his stomach practically digesting itself even as he lied to her. But he was willing to lie on his bed dying with hunger if it meant he didn't have to go downstairs.

Starfire, for all her naivety, saw through him immediately.

"Robin, you should not be ashamed of them," she told him gently.

Robin pretended to be surprised.

"What? Oh, these?..." He trailed off and dropped the act. He sighed heavily. "I can't go down there, Star…"

"But Robin, we are your _friends_," Starfire protested. "And we have already seen them."

"Yeah, I know, but…"

_I just can't face it…_

He looked away again.

"Starfire, you were _born_ with your powers. They've always been a part of you. You don't what _this_ is like…"

"Yes I do."

Her voice sounded quite icy and he looked up at her again in surprise.

"Remember when I had Transformation?" She reminded him. "My body underwent all sorts of strange, unsightly changes and I got very upset about it and tried to hide them. And then you all saw and I flew away and went to some strange planet and changed into a chrysalis and almost got eaten, and then you all turned up and rescued me…"

Robin nodded slightly, wondering how she didn't get out of breath.

"Well, I believed that I was unworthy of having you as my friends because I was so ugly and you were not so I left. And then when you rescued me I did not want you to see me and you told me that you did not care what I looked like because I was your friend. Well, I feel the same way, Robin, and so do the others. We do not care if you have wings now, we will still treat you the same way. It does not change who you are, it just makes you different. Better, even. Robin, you will be able to _fly_ now. Is that not wonderful? I will teach you the joy of flight and we can soar through the clouds together-"

"Starfire, _look_ at them!" Robin interrupted, annoyed. He shoved the panel right back and spread them out, folding his arms. "They're _horrible!_ I look like a _monster!_"

"No, you do not," Starfire said calmly. "You look like Robin to me."

"Yeah, with _extras_," Robin said bitterly. "Star, I can't go outside, I can't fight crime anymore… they're too bulky, they'll get in my way and slow me down… and if I went out into the city…" He put his head in his hands. "Star, we're hot property in Jump City's newspapers. Can you _imagine_ the _write-ups?_ They'll make up stupid stories, like we've been messing around with dark magic, or Batman's really a mutant and hey, look how his son turned out, or that I'm possessed by some kind of demon or something stupid. It'll turn the whole city against _all_ of us. No one will trust us-"

"Robin, that is not true," Starfire protested. "We have been assigned to protect Jump City, and they would never-"

"Star, not everyone's as open and easygoing as you are," Robin interrupted weakly. "That's how society works. One mutation in the system and suddenly they all turn against something. How do you think the Salem Witch Trials started? One witch, and suddenly, _everyone's_ a witch. And the same thing will happen here. I _didn't_ have wings, and suddenly I _do_ have wings, and they'll start some campaign against people with superpowers or something, and then we'll _all_ be in trouble..."

"So you are never going outside again?" Starfire asked sceptically.

"I can't, unless I can get rid of these things…"

"You will be like that European fairytale," Starfire went on. "What is it called, the one about the girl trapped in a tower all her life?"

"_Rapunzel_." Robin offered her a weak grin. "Yeah, I'll grow out my hair really long, and then I'll wind up being the reclusive winged freak in Titans Tower in desperate need of a haircut."

Starfire smiled faintly and took hold of his gloved hands.

"Please come downstairs, Robin," she pleaded. "You are hungry, I know you are. We do not care about your wings, I promise…"

He held back, wanting to refuse, but she was right; he _was_ hungry, and Cyborg was _such_ a great cook, and…

…And he knew they wouldn't care. They were his friends. They all overlooked the fact that Beast Boy was green with pointy ears, that Cyborg was half-robot, that Starfire was an alien, that Raven was… well, _Raven_. _He_ certainly didn't bat an eyelash when he looked at them, even though they were not normal as he was. Or _had_ been.

Why should they treat him any differently?

Still a little reluctant, he allowed Starfire to happily half-drag him downstairs…

* * *

"_Yo_, will you quit flappin' those things!" Cyborg snapped irritably. "You're puttin' me off!"

"Sorry…"

Robin folded his wings and tried to keep them still. It was difficult; he didn't know why, but they felt restless, and he kept folding and unfolding them without noticing.

He and Cyborg were indulging in a round – or several, as the Boy Wonder kept demanding a rematch every time the more-experienced Cyborg beat him – of virtual kick-butt on _Super Ninja Fury_. He wasn't pleased to admit that Cyborg was much better than him on the game, but could smugly put it down to the fact that he usually had better things to do with his time than spend hours on the Game-Station. It was Beast Boy who would waste an entire day on the machine with the half-robot, but the shape-shifter had mooched off to his room again following breakfast and had been there most of the day. He seemed moodier than ever, and Robin suspected that it had something to do with the fact that Terra was somewhat responsible for Robin's new fashion statement. He himself didn't really blame Terra for what had happened, but he knew that Beast Boy did, and was upset that everyone else, bar Robin, did too.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Mr Cyborg has entered the building!" Cyborg whooped in victory as _K.O_ flashed on the screen in the half-robot's favour. Robin smiled sourly and pressed the _CONTINUE_ icon. He selected _REMATCH _and Cyborg grinned.

"And here you were trying to sabotage me," he teased.

"No I wasn't!" Robin replied indignantly. Cyborg offered him a wry smile and gently took hold of the tiny clawed hand on Robin's right wing.

"Yeah, right. These things are _lethal_, Robbie-"

Too late the half-robot realised he'd said the wrong thing as Robin chucked his controller aside and abruptly rose and walked away. Cyborg looked over the back of the couch and watched him head for the door.

"Yo, Robin! I'm _sorry_, man! I didn't mean it like that!" Cyborg called apologetically; he felt lousy for that comment. He hadn't meant anything by it, but he knew Robin was upset by those wings, however much he hid it.

"It's ok, Cy," Robin answered stiffly. "You're right; they _are_ lethal."

He left the room, leaving a very awkward and upset Cyborg behind. Once outside he leaned against the door and closed his eyes. Then he opened them again and extended his left wing and looked at it. He wanted to cry; they were so _horrible_. Angel wings would have been better, hell knows the feathers would have been more comfortable, and they would have been far nicer looking. But _bat wings?_ It was ironic, and it was cruel…

He moved the little claw and felt sickened by it. It could probably just about hold a pencil, nothing bigger, and he could tell the grip would be weak.

_How am I ever gonna get used to this?..._

He hadn't even tried flapping them properly or attempted to fly. He was too scared to, afraid that he'd get up to a certain height and then drop like a rock and split his skull open. Although, if he was honest, he doubted he would even get off the ground at all. These were bat wings, and he knew that bats, like birds, had very light bones that enabled them to fly swiftly and easily. He also knew that humans were not built the same way. Sure, he was on the small side with a light build, and he certainly wasn't big-boned, but humans just weren't built for flying, period. He wouldn't have minded being able to fly, but he didn't want to kill himself doing it.

Actually, though, he had a greater desire to rid himself of them altogether. Raven had taken him aside earlier and promised that she would look through her books and see if there a spell of some kind that would reverse the enchantment that had been cast upon him. He didn't want to put pressure on her by voicing it, but he was really pinning all his hopes on her. He could only pray that she came through for him and found something.

As he stood there the siren went off and the corridor started to glow scarlet. He swore and was about the re-enter the front room when the elevator door opened and Raven and Starfire joined him.

"What is going on?" Starfire asked him.

"Dunno, but we better find out," Robin answered. Raven nodded in confirmation and together the three of them went into the front room. They found Cyborg sitting in Robin's chair at the mainframe, a frown on his dark face.

"What's up, Cy?" Robin asked. Cyborg turned to them.

"It's not good," he said grimly. He thumbed at the screen behind him; a tiny "S" was flashing near Jump City Bay.

Slade's insignia.

"We have to go," Robin said immediately, taking control, and dismissing the fact that he had stated that he was never going to venture outside again. With Slade, such vows didn't matter. What did Slade care for Robin's inferiority complex? With his wings slowing him down, he didn't know how he intended to defeat Slade, but he had to go. It was almost a summoning on his behalf. A calling.

"But Robin, you said that-" Starfire started, confused.

"Forget what I said, Starfire, this is important!" Robin interrupted. "Wings or no wings, this is _my_ mission…"

Beast Boy came pounding in at that moment and reached them, looking up at the screen.

"What's the…?" The shape-shifter trailed off as he saw the "S". "_Great_. Prophecy Man strikes again."

"Right, here's the plan," Robin said, all-business. "We'll fan out, use a surround manoeuvre; divide and conquer. Raven, Starfire, you go in from the east and west by air; Beast Boy can go straight up heading from Downtown. Cyborg, you go in the T-car and take the bridge; it brings you right into the docks. I'll-"

"You'll stay here," Cyborg interrupted flatly. Robin blinked and stared at him.

"Sorry?"

"You heard me." Cyborg wasn't smiling. "No kidding, Robin. I know you're in charge an' everything, but this is for _your_ safety. Slade is out to _kill_ you, man, an' the last three times he's summoned you he's nearly succeeded, what with Arkham Asylum an' then the mine an' then the arrow, an' now you've got _wings_ sticking out of your back thanks to him. I'm sorry, Robin, but if you're the Avenger an' all, you gotta stay here where you're safe. We don't wanna lose you, man, and we can't _afford_ to lose you, so just sit tight here, ok?"

"But… you can't just… I _have_ to go!" Robin said indignantly. "Guys, you don't _understand_-"

"Yeah, we do," Cyborg interrupted him again, his voice calm. "Robin, look, I'm _sorry_, 'kay, man? But there's nothin' for it. You gotta stay here. We'll handle Slade. No worries, ok?"

"No!" Robin wailed. "You can't make me stay here, Cyborg! I'm coming and _I'm_ in charge so you can just _butt out_, ok!"

Cyborg sighed.

"I was really hopin' you weren't gonna make this difficult, Robin," he said heavily. He rose from the chair and took hold of Robin's lithe wrists in one hand and easily lifted him into the air. Robin wriggled and kicked and flapped his wings as he tried to get loose.

"Cyborg, no!" Starfire cried. Cyborg ignored her and looked at Beast Boy.

"B.B, get his belt," he ordered the shape-shifter. Beast Boy obliged and unclasped Robin's utility belt and removed it from his waist, narrowly avoiding getting kicked in the gut several times. He slung it over his shoulder and stepped back.

"Beast Boy, give it back!" Robin shrieked, annoyed and upset that his friends had all suddenly turned on him. Starfire had protested, true, but she hadn't made any move to help him. Raven too was standing back, silent, her hood shadowing her pale face.

"Sorry about this, Robin," Cyborg apologised. "But it's the only way… you have to stay…"

The half-robot tossed Robin onto the couch and signalled to the others. They quickly made for the door, Starfire looking back at Robin as he struggled off the couch, his wings slowing him down considerably. He eventually righted himself and chased after them across the room. Starfire hovered for a second, gazing sadly at him; then Cyborg pulled her through the doors and slammed them shut just as Robin got to them. The Boy Wonder heard Cyborg activating the lock-down system. The double doors clicked and he looked across at the huge windows of the front room and saw the huge steel sheets sliding downwards and clicking shut too. The door to the kitchen slammed shut too and the passcode on his side of the door scrambled automatically so that he couldn't punch it in and get out.

He was locked in. Completely and utterly trapped. Caged, even.

_A caged beast_…

He pounded his fists on the doors for all he was worth, the metal hurting his hands.

"Cyborg! Let me out! You can't keep me in here!" He wailed through the panel. "CYBORG!"

No answer.

He spread his wings to balance himself and slammed a kick into the crack of the doors. It was so powerful the metal shook a little, but they didn't give. Cyborg's security system was a force to be reckoned with. He kicked them again, and again and again and again, until both of his legs ached from the practice, not to mention his hips and spine. He doubted even Cyborg himself could kick these doors in, and Cyborg was very, very strong.

And with no belt…

It was hopeless. He was stuck in the front room until the others came back, and he couldn't even get into the kitchen to get something to eat or drink.

He could trash it to get his own back, but that seemed a little malicious.

Still, he was _feeling_ malicious. How _dare_ they lock him in – _him_, their leader – as though he was a wild animal. Just because he had horrible bat wings, it didn't make him a monster, some kind of beast that had to be caged. It didn't mean he couldn't handle himself anymore. He knew that they had only locked him in for his own safety, but it was insulting.

He stalked over to Cyborg's radio and switched it on. He settled on the work counter and tuned it in, trying to ignore the fact that he was hungry. It had been nearly dinner time when the Titan Alert had gone off, and the knowledge only made his already-black mood even darker. Like most people, he wasn't really all that nice when he was hungry. And with the kitchen locked…

"…Twenty-five minutes past six in the evening, folks, and from here in the studio I'm watching a really spectacular sunset. At seven we've got archaeology writer Maxwell McCutcheon here in the studio with us, giving us the low-down on his latest book and the newest discoveries in his field of expertise, so stay tuned for that, and after that the _All-American Comedy Hour_, as usual featuring audioised sketches from last week's _Saturday Night Live_. After that it's some after-hours listening with the hottest tracks around, including R 'n' B, pop, rock an' some good old fashioned Rock 'n' Roll from the likes of Elvis Presley. Join us a bit later on for all that, but now here's REM with _Losing My Religion_…"

Robin sighed as he listened to it, looking down at his green-clad lap. Some of it he could identify with. He wasn't losing his _religion_ as such, because he didn't _have_ one, but he was losing… _something_…

His life had just taken a total turn for the worst recently. Slade had marked him as the Avenger, the one born to save the world, and for that reason wanted to kill him. He had been raped in an abandoned asylum, almost beaten to death, nearly skewered by Terra, shot through the heart, had sprouted horrible wings and had now been locked in the front room of Titans Tower by his so-called friends.

_Well_.

He knew they were his friends really, even Beast Boy, because otherwise they wouldn't have done it, but he felt betrayed and injusticed.

And he couldn't even call up Bruce to talk, because Bruce had done a bunk to some unknown… _place_.

_Of all the times to go on vacation… Maybe he went to Transylvania…_

He couldn't even smile at how bad it was…

_

* * *

That damn cookery programme **again**…_

He flicked the channel over; of all the things he didn't want to watch, it was something that involved food. He was absolutely starving, feeling ill and a little light-headed with it, and was down-right irritable. The other Titans had been absent for at least two hours now, and he had been locked in the front room with nothing to eat or drink for that exact amount of time. Ok, so it wasn't like he was _dying_, but it sure felt like it. And what was more, the TV seemed to be mocking him; every channel he flicked over to was showing an ad for pizza or some new restaurant or the latest Hershey's candy bar. He was on the verge of throwing the remote at it.

He was sprawled on the couch as though dead, having lost the energy to even sit up, his wings half-folded.

_What I wouldn't give for a Butter Finger…_

He closed his eyes and sighed heavily and flicked over again in search of something mildly entertaining…

"I can't _believe_ it, man…"

Cyborg's voice drifted from beyond the locked double doors. Robin perked up immediately and sat up. Their return meant food, but more importantly, a chance to express his displeasure at being locked in the front room.

That, of course, was putting it pretty politely.

He kneeled up on the couch and leaned over the back, his head resting on his arms, his wings partially open. The double doors slid back and the other four Titans entered, Raven and Beast Boy armed with two boxes of pizza each.

"Have fun?" Robin asked, his voice cool and malicious. The Titans looked at each other uncomfortably.

"Well, uhh…" Cyborg bit his lip and averted his eyes briefly. "It… it wasn't Slade…"

Robin blinked and stared at him.

"_What?_" He reinstated finally, his head on one side.

"He was not there," Starfire said timidly. "There was nothing there-"

"Nothing but a letter," Raven finished. "Red envelope, addressed the "The Avenger"."

"Then it was for _me_," Robin said matter-of-factly. He hitched himself over the back of the couch and approached them. "Where is it? Give it to me so I can read it. It might give some kind of clue as to…"

He trailed off as he saw them all guiltily exchange glances again. He looked from one to the other like a small, confused child among evasive adults.

"_Does Santa really exist, mommy?"_

"_Uh… well, you see, son…"_

"What did you _do_ with it?" He asked. They were all silent.

Finally Beast Boy was the one to break the silence;

"We destroyed it."

Robin stared at them, utterly speechless.

"You… _destroyed_ it?..." He repeated weakly.

"I did," Starfire said softly. "I incinerated it with a starbolt…"

She flinched as he moved his wings absently.

"Yo, man, before you start on Star, you should know I told her to do it," Cyborg said quickly, his tone defensive. Robin whipped around to face him.

"_Why!_" He demanded. "That could have been a valuable clue, a pointer-"

"No, Robin," Raven interrupted calmly. "It wasn't. We read it first, and it was another "rendezvous note". Another trap…"

"Telling me to go _where?_" Robin pressed.

"_Uh-uh_," Cyborg chipped in, shaking his head. "No way, man. We ain't sayin' nothin'. The whole reason we got rid of it was to stop you from playing into Slade's hands again."

"I don't really think that's got anything to with you, Cy," Robin said icily.

"Yeah? Well, I think you'll find it _does_, Wonder Boy," Cyborg spat back. "We're your team-mates, and _we're_ the mortal gods. We figure if you don't know, you can't do nothin' stupid."

"Slade knows you too well, Robin," Raven added calmly. "He knows all he has to do is show you one sliver of a scheme and you'll be right in there trying to prevent it. One clue and you'll follow an entire trail, right into a trap. He'll give you a rope and you'll hang yourself with it. It you had read that letter, you would have gone in answer to it, and he would have tried to kill you again, and if you're a cat, Robin, you must be down to your last life by now."

"So we burned it, dude," Beast Boy finished darkly. "And there's no way you're ever gonna figure out where it was he wanted you to go."

"Robin, do you not see?" Starfire asked softly. "Slade can easily predict what you will do, so the best tactic is to do what he would _least_ expect you to do, and that is to _not_ walk into his trap."

He knew they had done it in his best interests, like they had locked him in.

But he was furious.

"_So that's it?_" He yelled. "I grow wings, and suddenly I can't make my own decisions anymore? Is that what you're implying? That I can't look after myself anymore, that I need you lot to take care of me? Well, wake-up call; _I don't!_ I can't _believe_ you're treating me like this, like I'm _six_ or something, for petesakes!"

"Well, maybe we _wouldn't_ if you didn't _act_ six," Cyborg retorted hotly.

Robin's wings opened right out in his anger and Starfire shrieked and jumped back.

"Yeah? Could a six year old do _this_, Cy?" He snapped, swinging his fist backwards.

"Robin, _no!_" Starfire squealed.

It was Raven who stopped him from hitting Cyborg. She moved like lightning, dropping her pizza boxes, and caught him around the chest and breaking the speed and precision of his blow, allowing Cyborg to duck backwards out of reach. He struggled violently in her grip but she wouldn't let him go… until a black spark suddenly shot from the red jewel on her forehead and she shrieked and abruptly released him. She collapsed to the floor, her hand on her forehead. Robin didn't even look at her, but Starfire was beside her in a second.

"Raven!" She cried, putting her hand on the other girl's shoulder. "Are you alright?"

Raven nodded weakly and looked up at Robin, her violet eyes wide.

"_Oh my god_…" she whispered. She stood and her black bird-shaped aura surrounded her and she soared upwards through the ceiling, obviously bound for her room.

The other three all simply stared at Robin, who was standing with his fists clenched and his wings spread, his chest heaving with every breath he drew.

"Jeez, man… what did you _do_ to her?" Cyborg asked, his tone still aggressive.

"I didn't do _anything!_" Robin spat. "She just… I dunno, _freaked!_ That's not _my_ fault!"

"You must have done _something_ to her!"

"_I didn't!_" Robin yelled furiously. "Just _shut up_, Cyborg!"

Starfire and Beast Boy simply watched in terrified silence as the leader and vice-leader argued heatedly. There was something different about the Boy Wonder; maybe it was just pure anger, but he seemed savage, like he wanted to rip Cyborg to shreds with his bare hands.

"Yo, man! You can't just take all this out on _us!_" Cyborg responded heatedly. "This is all _your_ fault! You're so damn stupid, you always play right into whatever trap Slade sets for you! Going off by yourself in the middle of the night to Arkham Asylum at his bid? Uh… _dumb_, Robin!"

" I didn't _ask_ to be the Avenger!" Robin shrieked, near hysterical. "You think I _wanted_ this? You think I want _wings_ sticking out of my back? You think I _want_ to look like a _monster_, Cyborg?"

"No, but this isn't all down to _you_… but you're just _dismissing_ us-"

"You wonder _why_ when you do all this stuff like I can't choose for myself? You lock me in here, you burn that letter that was for _me_-"

"It was a _trap_, you idiot! And you would have fallen into it, you're so stupid-"

"You know what I've _been_ through this past week, Cyborg?" Robin shouted, clenching his fists so tightly they were numb. "Do you! Do you wanna be _me_, Cy?"

"Hell, no-"

"Then quit _patronising_ me! You don't understand what it's like, but this whole thing is _my_ responsibility, and I have to stop this prophecy from being fulfilled-"

"You can't stop this thing on your own-"

"Yes I _can_. I wish I hadn't got you guys involved, then it would've been a hell of a lot _easier_-"

"Yeah, and that would be _just_ like you, Robin," Cyborg said, his voice dangerously quiet. "After all, that's what you _usually_ do…"

Robin stared at him for a while, his mouth little more than a tight line. He looked at the floor intently and his clenched fists were shaking.

"You know what, Cy?" He said softly, after a while. It was a statement, not a question.

"What?" Cyborg asked suspiciously.

Robin looked up slowly and deliberately.

"Fuck you."

The three of them stared at him, gobsmacked. Robin didn't _swear_; they had never, _ever_ heard him utter a bad word in all the time that they had known him. Bruce didn't approve of it, and he in turn had taught Robin to look upon bad language with the same disdain. The worst Robin ever said was "damn", and _that_ was hardly a swearword. But they had just heard him do it, and hell, they knew he was angry…

He raised his eyebrows at their incredulous expressions.

"Yeah, you heard me. _Fuck. You_. Fuck you all…"

He grasped hold of his "R" badge and tore it off his shirt, throwing it to the floor aggressively.

"I quit."

He walked out of the room without another word, the others struggling to process what he had just said.

It clicked with Starfire first, and the alien girl soared out of the room after him.

"Robin, you cannot-"

"Don't call me that," he snapped. "My name _isn't_ Robin. I quit being Robin. _Screw Robin_. I'm leaving."

"Rob… um, whatever-your-real-name-is, you cannot leave! You are our leader!"

"Not anymore." He stopped and turned and looked at her. "My _name_, Starfire, is Dick Grayson, and _I_ am _not_ a _superhero_. I'm an acrobat, and I'm an orphan, and I'm leaving this damned tower, and this damned city before I go _crazy_…"

"What?" Starfire was confused. "No, you are _Robin_, and…" She trailed off and gazed at him with her large green eyes.

"For petesakes, Starfire, I'm not really called "Robin"!" He said irritably. "That's just an identity, a costume, like "Batman". I just _told_ you my real name, and now, if you'll excuse me, I'm out of here…"

"Where will you go?" Starfire asked, starting to cry. "Oh, Rob… What was it? Dick Grayson? Dick Grayson, you cannot leave! We need you! Oh, please do not go!"

"No," he answered coldly. "I'm sick to death of _everything_, Starfire! I'm sick of being the Avenger and I'm sick of being Robin and I'm sick of being a superhero, and I'm sick of Slade and the prophecy and this city and arguing with you guys… I don't want to do this anymore, Starfire. I _can't_…"

"But your wings-"

"Yeah, and I'm sick of those too!"

"Robin! Yo man, where you going?" Cyborg called as he and Beast Boy burst through the double door into the corridor.

"My name isn't Robin," Batman's child replied icily over his shoulder. "You're in charge, Cyborg. I'm going back to Gotham City. I'm going _home_…"

Raven's cool voice issued from the stairs and they all turned to look at her as she spoke;

"So am I…"

* * *

So dear sweet Dickie is throwing a tantrum now… Can you blame the guy?

So there was a bit of a male bitch-fight there between Robin and Cyborg; I love it when those two argue. One of the best exchanges in Season One has got to be from _Divide and Conquer_;

Robin: You got a problem, Tin Man?

Cyborg: Yeah! It's four feet tall and smells like cheap hair gel!

Anyway, next chap up whenever you have helped my review collection to grow (I have taken to collecting them, you know…). And I am happy 'cause I am listening my new Placebo CD… so just tell me what you think (of the fic, not Placebo)!

Plugging time!

Narroch06 and I are revamping _Run To You_ in another, not-against-the-site's-regulations format. It will be three chapters instead of a single one-shot, under the title of _Love Over Gold_. I will let ya know when that is up. New chapter of _Small Print_ should be done… soon… _ish_… Narroch06 wrote a wonderfully-deep one-shot insight into Beast Boy called Duality. Read it! _Now! _And I found an amazing one-shot on here called _Season One Eats Some Toast_. It's as silly as the title, but oh, so funny… you should all read it. It made laugh out loud, really… and not many fics do that… It is very short and is one my favourites list, anyone who is interested. The "sister" fic to it, by the same author, is called _Raven and Robin Eat Some Toast_…

Anyhoo, TTYS! Review, my lovely loyal… _things_…

- RobinRocks xXx


	11. Sweet Home Azarath

I know, I know, it's been another long while since I updated…

Well, as the title suggests, the Titans go to Azarath… or something…

Um, well, I can't really think of anything to say, apart from… everybody seemed to have trouble reviewing chapter 9. I can explain; in a panic after _Run To You_ got deleted in the same fashion as _Underneath Your Clothes_, I got rid of the Green Day lyrics in the fic, cutting the chapter count back by one chapter. That of course meant everything moved down one, so the new chapter 9 would originally have been chapter 10, and you had already reviewed the original chapter 9, which had become chapter 8. So you _had_ a reviewed _a _chapter 9, just not the one you had just read…

Confusing? Guess it is…

Never mind!

Just read and enjoy!

Big thanks to: Narroch06, Seductive Angel, Phoenix Skyborne, Thrillzone, YamiTai, Quinn and His Quill, Rocky Wolf and last but definitely not least, Daybreak 25! Your reviews really make my day… :)

Not to be confused with the Reese Witherspoon movie of a very similar name, I give you...

Sweet Home Azarath

Raven stood halfway down the wide red-carpeted staircase of Titans Tower, her hood down and her weight supported on her left hip. She was smiling a little and her violet eyes glittered knowingly.

The three words she had spoken simply bounced around the walls of the Titans' headquarters, as none of the others – Robin, Starfire, Beast Boy nor Cyborg – could quite believe what she had said. It had been a surprise enough – and an unpleasant one at that – that Robin said he was going back to Gotham City. And although they certainly didn't want him to, and weren't done arguing with him, his statement wasn't all that farfetched. Gotham wasn't very far away, after all.

But _Raven_ saying the same thing? She was from an _alternate dimension_, the one known as Azarath. Where in the heck _was_ Azarath, anyway? And why was she smiling like that?...

Cyborg threw his arms up in the air in disgust.

"_Great_," he said bitterly. "What the hell kinda superhero team are we gonna be, if Robin flits off back to Gotham in a huff, and Raven goes back to _wherever_ she's from too!" He turned to Starfire. "How 'bout you, Starfire? You goin' back to Tamaran and leavin' me with B?"

"No!" Starfire cried, near tears. "No, we must all stay together! Robin, Raven, you must not leave! Please, you cannot-"

"Starfire, calm down," Raven interrupted the alien girl coolly. "All of you, calm down. I'm not bailing out on you, and neither is Robin…" She looked at him at this point; he gazed back at her defiantly, still seething, but didn't say anything.

Raven shook her head a little and descended the stairs, coming to a halt at the foot of the stairs.

"I'm going home," she said again, looking at them each in turn. "I'm going back to Azarath, and you're all coming with me."

They all blinked and simply stared at her.

"Say what?" Cyborg commented eventually.

"Dude, we get to go to _Azarath?_" Beast Boy added incredulously. "_Cool_…"

Raven nodded.

"But Raven, why?" Starfire inquired. "I do not understand why you would wish to take us to the place of your birth. We would all like to view it, of course, but with the prophecy and Slade and now Robin's wings, do you really think that this is a very good time?"

Raven smiled faintly.

"I cannot think of a more perfect time, Starfire," she replied.

"Well, have fun…"

_Robin_.

He had regained his voice and they all turned to find him resuming his departure of Titans Tower.

"Robin, _no!_"

Raven went after him quickly and grabbed hold of his wrist. He whipped back around and tried to pull it loose.

"Raven, let go of me!"

"No." Raven's eyes glimmered defiantly as she looked at him. "Robin, don't you _get_ it? This is for _your_ benefit! I think my people may be able to help you…"

He blinked at her, hardly daring to believe her words.

"_Really?_" He breathed. Raven nodded, still holding his wrist in case he decided to leave anyway. He looked down at her pale fingers and tried again to pull free. She wouldn't let him go and he looked up at her again.

"But I want to go _home_," he said mournfully.

"Robin, you _are_ home," Raven told him, squeezing his wrist. "Don't walk out on us, Robin; you'll regret it. Now, come on; I'm going to take you to Azarath and they'll _help_ you."

"And they'll be able to get rid of them?" He asked hopefully. Raven shook her head.

"Robin, I don't know for sure," she told him softly. "But the Azarathians are very powerful in terms of magic and healing properties. They may be able to do something; far more than I can do for you. Besides…" She looked at the floor, then back up at him, still holding his wrist.

"Robin, I… I don't want to scare you, but…" She looked behind her; Starfire, Cyborg and Beast Boy were all clinging to her every word. She shook her head sadly.

"_What?_" He pressed.

"There's _something_… _in_ you. I don't know what, if it's just spiritual or it's alive or what it is, but it's… it's not good. I sensed it in you when I was holding you back a while ago, and it's _bad_, Robin… it's _evil_, and it's not _your_ aura. It's something else, and we have to get it _out_ of you…"

"So… what? I'm, like… _possessed_, or something?.." Robin asked weakly. Raven shook her head in despair.

"Robin, I just don't know. That's why I have to take you to Azarath. One of the senators will be able to give us more detail on the matter… If anyone can help, it's the Azarathian Senate."

Robin nodded weakly. He was already light-headed from a lack of food; now he felt as though he was about to pass out.

_Possessed?_ That was _so_ not good…

Raven released his wrist and turned to the other three Titans.

"You three are coming with us," she said. "It would be better if were all together."

The other three nodded.

"Who's gonna take care of the city, though?" Cyborg questioned worriedly. "I mean, if we're all-"

"We have Honorary Titans, remember, Cyborg?" Robin interrupted. "Speedy, Aqualad, Wildebeest, Hotspot… we'll just reprogram the alarm system to their pagers so that when there's trouble, the call will go through to them instead. They can handle it."

Cyborg nodded.

"Right. Good thinking, Robin… I'll get on that now."

Cyborg went back into the front room to the computer mainframe.

"Will we need to pack anything, Raven?" Starfire inquired, clasping her hands together. Raven shook her head.

"Not necessary. If there's one thing my people are notorious for, it's giving out free clothes. They aren't exactly the height of fashion, but they're what the Azarathians wear. And very comfortable."

"And these dudes know we're all, like, turning up, right?" Beast Boy asked. "'Cause, I mean-"

"Yes, they do," Raven interrupted calmly. "That's what I was doing in my room. I contacted the Azarathian Senate and told them what I had sensed in Robin, and about the prophecy and everything. They agreed it would be best if we were to go to Azarath ASAP."

"And did you tell them about the Orb of Azarath?" Robin asked from behind her. "Do they know it's been stolen?"

Raven turned back to him.

"Yes, I told them. You and I have a meeting with the senate as soon as we arrive."

Robin blinked.

"What, just us?"

Raven nodded.

"You're the Avenger, and the one in question concerning wings and evil auras."

"So when are we going?" Beast Boy wailed.

"In a minute," Raven replied calmly. "Once Cyborg returns, and once I have retrieved something…"

She disappeared into her bird-shaped aura again and soared upwards through the ceiling.

There was silence between the other three.

"I still quit," Robin said eventually. "When this is finished, I'm going back to Gotham…"

"No, Robin!" Starfire wailed. "No, you must stay! We need you!"

"No you don't. Cyborg's as good a leader as I am."

"What was that?" Cyborg asked, returning from the front room.

"Robin says he quits!" Starfire cried mournfully. Cyborg blinked and looked at the Boy Wonder.

"Jeez, man, you serious?" He asked. "I thought that was just a moment of madness thing…"

Robin shook his head firmly and folded his arms.

"No. This is your rap now, Cyborg. You're leader now. I'm totally _sick_ of all this crap…"

Beast Boy didn't say anything. Starfire sniffled, upset and trying to come up with another argument. Cyborg opened his mouth, then closed it again. As vice-leader, he was used to taking command, but he didn't want Robin to quit. Pain in the ass as he was, he was a vital member of the team; powerless, true, but clever, a detective with the stealth of an assassin. _They needed him_; _Batman_ didn't, however harsh it sounded.

But they could tell just by looking at him that he was adamant, and he was a very stubborn person at the best of times. They could only hope that in time he would change his mind.

Raven reappeared, the empty glass arrow clutched firmly in her right hand. She looked at them each in turn and nodded primly.

"Ready to go?"

The four Titans nodded in response.

"Good. Let's go into the front room, there'll be more room for the portal."

She led the way back into the front room and they followed her obediently.

"Alright, stand back…"

Again they obeyed and Raven stood secluded in the middle of the dark front room. Her large amethyst eyes slid closed and she pulled up her hood, casting nearly the whole of her face in shadow. She raised her palms, her long pale fingers spread as though she was casting a spell, and started to speak in a low voice;

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos… Carazon Rakashas Endere…Vaserix Endrien Azarath… Azarath, _Azarath!_"

It sounded Latin – but it was Azarathian – and as the words left her lips a breeze from nowhere began to lift, rippling the edges of her long cloak.

Then her eyes opened again, blazing white.

A tiny orb of light glimmered into view in front of her and began to increase in size until it resembled an oval full-length mirror, though crafted entirely from a heaven-like glow.

Raven turned her head slightly and offered her hand out to Robin, who was the nearest. He took it and did the same to Starfire until all five Titans were linked in a chain.

"Ready?" Raven asked softly. They all nodded in reply and Raven stepped into the glowing portal and led her friends through the gateway into her homeworld.

For a few moments there was nothing but a blinding glow from all directions, and then it faded and the Teen Titans stepped from it onto soft, long grass. The portal closed behind Beast Boy, the last on the chain.

It was night, as it was in Jump City, the sky above clear and ebony and sprinkled with stars, and set within the sky was not one moon, but two. It was warm, the slightest of breezes rippling the soft grass beneath the Titans' feet, and the air was fresh and sweet, very different from the city air they were used to. They were standing on a… _cliff?..._

"Yo, Raven!" Beast Boy said impatiently, looking around wildly. "Is this it!"

He had a point, the others had to agree. Sure, the air was nice and the night sky harnessed double its fair share of moons, the grass was very… _not trampled_, and _long_… longer than the grass in Jump City Park, anyhow, but it was lacking… _something_…

Yes. They were standing on a cliff, and as nice a cliff as it was, it was little more than what it appeared to be. It was very big and grassy, with a very steep drop, and there were some _very_ nice weeping willow trees scattered around. But that was it.

Or so they thought.

Raven shook her head and led them to the very edge of the cliff-face and they all looked down…

"_Jeez_…" Beast Boy murmured. Cyborg whistled. Starfire said something in Tamaranean. Robin merely blinked and said nothing.

Raven smiled.

There, sprawled below, was a glittering… how to describe it? Palace? Certainly it gave the likes of the Taj Mahal a run for its money. It even had its own fountain garden out front, plus more willows and palm trees and rosebushes. It was pure white, huge, and utterly breathtaking.

"Ray, what the… what _is_ this place?..." Cyborg asked weakly.

Raven grinned and pulled down her hood.

"My home," she said softly, relishing the looks of disbelief on their faces.

"What the heck _are_ you, _queen_ of this place!" Beast Boy spluttered. Raven giggled and shook her head.

"No. This isn't a _palace_, Beast Boy. This is the Azarathian Senate House." She frowned. "Well. It _was_ a palace once, a very, _very_ long time ago, when… oh, never mind…"

She looked back at them all.

"Come on, let's go down, and you'll get the _Tour De Grande_…"

Beast Boy nudged Cyborg sharply in his metal ribs.

"You hear that, Cy? We'll get to live it up like _kings!_"

Cyborg raised his eyebrows.

"What, being a _middle-class_ slob ain't good enough for you, B?"

"Hell, no!" Beast Boy replied joyfully. "Just imagine it, Cy… Ten beautiful women on each side, some with fans, others with seedless purple grapes and ice-cold strawberry soy-milkshakes…" He sighed deeply and happily at the fantasy. Cyborg and Robin exchanged glances and for a few seconds the awkwardness between them was forgotten as they bit their lips to stop from laughing.

"_Robin_."

Raven snapped her fingers in the Boy Wonder's face and he blinked and promptly stopped sniggering. Raven and Starfire were already airborne, hovering a few feet from the cliff's grassy surface.

"Starfire is going to take Cyborg," Raven explained coolly. "Do you think you could fly down by yourself?"

Robin paled and his wings rustled nervously. He shook his head violently.

"Oh, no, I… I couldn't, I really _couldn't_… I mean, I haven't even _tried_ to-"

Raven held up a hand to silence him.

"Ok, I was just wondering… maybe it would be better for you not to use them," she said decisively. "I'll take you down."

She moved behind him and tried a few times to get a grip on him, failing.

"Robin, your wings…" she grunted. "Spread them… _out_…"

"Oh… sorry…"

He lifted them and spread them out, allowing Raven to get her arms around his waist, holding him securely just under his ribcage.

"Comfortable?"

"Yup…"

They both looked across at the others; Starfire was floating, effortlessly holding Cyborg underneath his upper arms, once again her looks deceiving her strength, while Beast Boy had turned into a tiny green hummingbird and was darting about quickly and excitedly, performing loop-de-loops at regular intervals.

Raven nodded.

"Let's go…"

The Teen Titans made their easy and careful descent into the courtyard of the Senate House and touched down, Raven and Starfire releasing Robin and Cyborg and Beast Boy changing back just as he landed. Beyond towered the huge white building, beautiful and exotic and inviting. Raven led the way up to the long glass vestibule, which had a pathway of red carpet laid as though for celebrities on Oscar night. Beast Boy pushed ahead and led the way up this, strutting like a male model on a catwalk and making hand gestures as though waving to fans. Starfire giggled at his ridiculous antics, but Raven, Robin and Cyborg all exchanged sceptical glances.

They entered the main hall and Cyborg whistled piercingly again.

"Yeah, what he said," Robin murmured, looking up at the high ornate ceiling. The design of the building was intricate and gothic, only it was carved mostly from white marble or other white stone, and everything was strictly ornate with a capital "O". There were at least five corridors leading off on both sides of the hall, and in front of them stretched a wide staircase carpeted again in red, which led to a single platform which branched off into two separate staircases, one to the left wing of the building, the other to the right. The floor beneath their feet was highly polished pure white marble with a single strip of red carpet leading up the centre to the staircase, and high above was the hugest chandelier any of them had ever seen.

_Jeez, even Bruce can't compete with this,_ Robin thought wildly.

Boy, _that_ was sure saying a lot. Bruce had more money than he did gadgets, and Batsy had one _heck_ of a lot of gadgets…

"Impressive, isn't?" Raven asked with a grin, her hands on her hips. The other Titans simply nodded mutely, able to do little else.

As though summoned by Raven's words, two figures descended the right wing staircase and approached the five teenaged superheroes. Both wore silk robes with hoods, but their hoods were down - as was Raven's own - and it was easy to see that one was male and the other was female. They stopped when the reached the Titans and both bowed deeply to Raven.

"A pleasure to see you have returned home safely, Lady Raven," the man said in soft, pleasant tones as he and his female companion straightened up again.

Starfire did not seem at all surprised by the title Raven was referred to as, but the three boys looked at each other and wildly mouthed "_Lady?_".

"Indeed, we have sorely missed your presence here in Azarath," the woman added, her voice cool and level but equally pleasant. She smiled at the telekinetic Teen Titan and Raven smiled back; it was obvious that she knew these people, and was used to them addressing her as "Lady Raven".

The woman had very pale skin, thick shoulder-length hair that was a beautiful shade of red, and large green-blue eyes. She wore cream silk robes tied at the waist with a gold woven cord, as opposed to her male counterpart, whose robes were a deep sapphire blue with a silver silk band at his waist. He had feathery blonde hair and pale green eyes, an unusual combination.

"The Senate is ready to see you, Lady Raven," the man said. Raven nodded.

"Thankyou," she replied, her voice very calm and soft. She looked at Robin. "Come on, that means you too."

Robin nodded tensely, feeling very conscious of the wings sticking out of his back. The red-haired woman was looking straight at him, and although she didn't seem at all horrified, he didn't exactly welcome the attention.

"Hey, Raven, what about us?" Beast Boy asked indignantly.

"I shall see to you," the man explained calmly. "If you three would care to follow me, I will take you to your quarters."

"See you later," Raven told the other three. They all nodded and followed after the blue-robed man as he led the way up the staircase to the left wing.

"Follow me," the woman said to Raven and Robin. She led the way down one of the corridors, and then down many more corridors, all looking exactly the same. Raven seemed to know where she was going anyway – well, she had _lived_ here, after all – but Robin felt sure he would get lost in this place in just five minutes.

Finally the woman stopped outside huge ornately-carved oak doors. She bowed, smiled and left without another word.

Raven went to push open the doors and Robin caught her wrist.

"Robin, _what?_"

He bit his lip and looked at the floor.

"I'm… I'm scared about this, Raven…" he admitted. His wings fluttered a little as he said it. Raven smiled faintly.

"Well, of course you are," she said softly. "You're _human_…"

He looked at the doors and felt weak. Although, he _was_ still hungry, come to think of it.

"I… I just don't think… I can…" He trailed off hopelessly.

"Robin, you _have_ to," Raven told him. "My people are not going to judge you on _these_, ok? They aren't like Earth-people; they accept _me_, and _I_ am the daughter of Trigon. At least you're… _relatively_ normal…"

"Thanks for the support there, Ray…"

His mournful expression didn't change and she sighed and bent down as though tying a shoelace.

"What are you doing?" He inquired. She didn't reply, but when she straightened up something dangled from her pale fingers.

"Here, you can have this," she said. "I wear it on my ankle for… I don't know, luck or comfort or something…"

He looked at the object curiously; it was a piece of thin plaited leather cord with a tiny silver gear threaded onto it.

"Where did you-?"

"Does it matter?" Raven interrupted irritably. Before he could do anything about it, she had wrenched off his left glove, tied the anklet around his slim wrist and replaced his glove, hiding it from view.

"There. For luck."

He looked blankly at his wrist, then smiled weakly.

"Thanks, Raven…"

She declined to answer him again, as though mentally shutting herself off from him. She turned away and he felt suddenly lost; she had not returned his smile. Was this how she was… _supposed_ to behave?…

Dread clutched at him, strangling him, as Raven pushed open the doors and swept inside, flicking a small gesture at him to follow.

"Home Sweet Home" wasn't really all it was cracked up to be…

* * *

Um, yeah, Raven's chant to open the portal… all real, written exactly as she says it in _The Prophecy_. Go watch it if you don't believe me… 

How do I know? Did I painstakingly sit and watch _The Prophecy_ and write it all down? As tempting as that was, I had a much easier way; wonderful little folder on my laptop that contains EVERY SINGLE SCRIPT OF THE SHOW, HAHAHAHAHAHAHA…

Ahem… well, next chapter whenever I get it up…

_Next Chapter_: OCs galore! Not a big fan of OCs myself, but I needed a Senate, and the show didn't exactly provide any other Azarathians besides Raven and Arella, who was in the show for like, two minutes… I was forced to improvise…

Now review, my duckies, or I'll set Mad Mod on you! We Brits stick together…

…And they're not _cookies!_ They're _biscuits!_


	12. The Fate Which Lies Within

I apologise once more for the lengthy period between this update and the last. This, coupled with the fact that I am going away for two weeks tomorrow, is why I have updated with two chapters instead of just one. So yeah; I know this technically does me out of reviews, because people just review the second one after reading both, but there is not much I can do about that…

Right. This chapter. I have some stuff to explain before we get cracking. First of all, the Senators appear in this chapter. This is the most that they are in it at all; in fact most of them you will not see again until the third part of the trilogy. There are three important ones who are in it quite a lot, but don't worry; there is no TTxOC romance (_shudder_) and they do not dominate the storyline more than any of the Teen Titans. Rest assured; because those above factors which I have avoided are precisely the things I _despise_ in fan fiction.

I lie, however, when I say that all of them are mine. Arella, Raven's mother, is one of them. However… this is something else I need to point out. Her description is not the same as it is in the cartoon, in which she appears during _The Prophecy_ for the grand total of around a minute. The reason for this is that I was writing this fic this time _last_ year, and in Britain at that time, we had only just finished with Season _Three_. I did not know Arella even _appeared_ in the show, however briefly. Therefore, when I wanted to include her, I was forced to improvise; the description of her you will read her is the original 80s _New Teen Titans_ figure. Black hair, resemblance to Mary Grayson; the works. I did not change it after I had seen the animated version for reasons you will read below.

As for the rest of the Senators; they are all my mine. However, some of them are named after the friends who were reading the carbon copy (complete with my crazy illustrated chapter title pages) this time last year. That is why they appear to have relatively "normal" names. Again, I did not change them because that would have involved combing throughout the entire fic changing them, and if I miss one it would mean inconsistency for you guys. It was easier to leave them the way they were.

I hope they do not annoy you.

To; Narroch06, Rocky-White Wolf of Curses, Daybreak25, Phoenix Skyborne, YamiTai, Quinn and His Quill, Aeris-Raven, Seductive Angel, Thrillzone and any other readers, thankyou for your continued support and wonderful reviews! They mean so much to me, like you wouldn't believe…! ;)

And most especially to the Honourable Mr Quinn and His Quill – I did **NOT** steal the names Seth and Marcus from your original _Chronicles of the Great Archipelago _series on FictionPress (end of plug, hoping he doesn't sue)…

Also to Narroch06 – the (in)famous Seth Elliott makes his "appearance" in this chapter…

Enjoy!

The Fate Which Lies Within

Throwing open the intricately-carved wooden doors to the Senate House "meeting room", Raven nodded for Robin to follow her, her pretty face set and serious. She led him to the middle of the room as the doors closed behind them, seemingly all by themselves. It was large, as gothic and ornate as the entrance hall and all the corridors, but with one difference; in a perfect semi-circle were 13 ornate throne-like chairs, 6 on each side and one in the very middle. 12 of them were occupied by silent, brooding, lavishly-clothed figures, but the 13th chair, the largest one right in the centre of the arc, was empty. In the chair to the right of it sat a very beautiful woman in a purple silk dress with long shining black hair, and she looked up as Raven entered, followed closely by Robin. Raven seemed not to acknowledge it, but Robin could have sworn he saw a trace of a smile grace the otherwise-sad-looking woman's lips. In fact… he frowned. Studying her, she looked a little bit – no, make that a _lot_ – like Raven.

A young, clean-shaven, dark-haired man in the chair on the other side of the empty one rose and bowed as Raven came to a halt. The shade of his hair was a deep oak colour that shone brilliantly, and he wore flowing crimson silk robes with a hood much like Raven's, which was, at present, down. A shining platinum girdle at his waist broke it up, and he wore matching platinum gauntlets on his forearms, shining visibly beneath his flowing crimson sleeves; they reminded Robin of Starfire's silver ones.

His eyes were deep pools of blue; bluer than even _his_.

"Welcome back, Lady Raven," he said, his voice calm. The others rose and all bowed; except, Robin noticed with interest, the black-haired woman, who merely stood, her hands clasped together.

Her mother?... Yes, he remembered Raven saying that her mother was a member of the Azarathian Senate, and not only did this woman look like his telekinetic friend, she hadn't bowed. What mother would bow to her daughter?...

The dark-haired man approached.

"You have much to tell us," he continued, his voice cool. Raven nodded.

"Yes, I do."

The man nodded too and turned his gaze on Robin.

"And this is the boy?"

"Yes. The Avenger."

The man gave Robin a quick once-over and extended his hand.

"Marcus Vandiver. A pleasure to make your acquaintance… Robert, isn't it?"

Robin hesitated. He had just denounced his superhero persona not less than 20 minutes ago…

"_Robin_," he corrected defeatedly, shaking with the senator. The man's eyebrows raised.

"Ah, yes… I know you. You're Batman of Gotham City's partner, aren't you?"

"Past tense."

The man took his hand back and smiled.

"Well, you certainly seem to be in a bit of a dilemma," he acknowledged, nodding at Robin's wings. "We'll see what we can do for you. In the meantime, why don't you meet the rest of the Azarathian Senate?..."

He gently took hold of the Boy Wonder's shoulders and pushed him forwards. Robin didn't resist but felt mildly alarmed at being separated from Raven. He glanced back at her wildly and she nodded, unsmiling but in a way that was strangely comforting to him. When he looked back he saw that all of the other senators had left their seats and formed a perfect line, a queue of sorts to meet him like he was a celebrity. In a way, he was; he was the Avenger. They were all watching him with a strange interest, and he doubted it was solely because he had demonic wings protruding from his shoulder blades.

"I think you should get to know them," Marcus Vandiver went on, one hand resting on Robin's left shoulder. "And do not fear us, dear boy. We are going to do everything within our power to help you. Think of us as your friends."

Robin nodded tensely. His detective's mind was working overtime as he studied the Azarathian people. Being American, he was used to black people, as almost a third of the USA's population was black, but the Azarathians were all white. By typical American statistics, in a group of 12 people like this at least two would be African-American like Cyborg, but the Azarathians all looked eerily similar. They all had pale, almost translucent skin, large long-lashed eyes of bright greens and blues and some purples – he noticed that none of them had brown, grey or black eyes – and their builds were slim and fragile, even the males'. All wore silk robes or dresses of various vivid colours, greens and reds and deep violets and royal blues, and they were delicately made and bore intricate designs. Raven's mother – he assumed it was Raven's mother – looked exquisite in her slim-fitting purple gown, with a silver celtic-designed breastplate much like Starfire's at her neck and a platinum tiara crowning her mane of flowing ebony hair. Her eyes were a deep blue, deeper than even his own, almost violet like her daughter's.

The first man approached Robin and he looked up, away from Raven's mother. He couldn't stop staring at her; her appearance was eerie to him, as she looked like a direct cross between Raven and his own mother, Mary Grayson. She had the same hair, the same pale, perfect skin, the same long slender fingers as his late mother.

"Robin, this is Jonathon Vaughan," Marcus Vandiver told him calmly as the tall auburn-haired man extended his hand. Robin shook with him – hanging out with businessman Bruce Wayne had its good points; he knew how to shake hands professionally – and Jonathon Vaughan smiled and stepped aside to let the woman in a green dress past. She had blonde hair that was perfectly straight, with a straight-cut fringe across her pale forehead.

"Sarah de Marçon," Marcus went on. Robin shook with her too. It was weird; they were so business-like in their manner, and yet they certainly weren't business-men and women.

Another woman followed Sarah de Marçon, this one with red hair like the woman who had brought them here.

"Aurora Mariotte," Marcus rattled off. It carried on this way, the Boy Wonder making acquaintances with seven other senators – Michael Shelley, Calica White, Lawrence Westten, Emma Tomasi, James Sinclair, Catriona Darke and Zachariah Warrix – before he finally got to shake hands with Raven's mother, who was last in the queue.

"And this, Robin, is Arella Roth," Marcus said softly. "The mother to your friend Raven, and our only Earth representative here in Azarath. She is named after our founding queen."

She _did_ look like a queen, Robin thought, her grace, the way she carried herself. But she was not haughty in her manner, instead smiling pleasantly at him, looking remarkably like his mom. She was young, too, as his own mother had been; he suspected that Arella had only been in her teens herself when she had become pregnant with Raven.

And he hadn't realised that Raven was part-earthling. But if Arella was from Earth, as he was, then she had to be.

Arella extended her hand and Robin obliged but she didn't shake it, instead held it gently and kissed his fingertips through his glove. Robin was nonplussed, looking briefly at Raven, who offered no reaction. Arella straightened up again and just stood gazing at him, his hand held loosely in her own. Truthfully, it was starting to wig him out, the way she was just staring at him, her deep eyes unblinking. She wasn't even smiling anymore, and yet she still looked unnervingly like his mom.

The other senators were silent too, completely still. So was Raven.

The silence was oppressive and uncomfortable. He felt the burning desire to break it, shatter it like glass… he now knew why Raven was so creepy sometimes…

"You look like my mom…" He broke the spell eventually and immediately regretted it. That had sounded so _stupid_…

The smile returned to Arella's face, perhaps in amusement.

"And _you_ like one of _us_," she replied, her voice soft and pleasant. She released his hand and left him puzzling that last statement as she and the other 11 senators filed back to their ornate seats. The thirteenth seat remained, of course, empty.

"We apologise that the head of the Azarathian Senate, Seth Elliott, could not be here at this present time," Marcus Vandiver explained as he sank back into his seat on the left of the empty one.

"He's _never_ here," Jonathon Vaughan muttered darkly. "Always has better things to do these days…"

"Order, Jonathon, order," Marcus reprimanded him smoothly. Jonathon Vaughan settled back in his chair somewhat sulkily but said nothing more.

"Raven, you remember Seth Elliott?" Marcus went on. Raven nodded as she came up next to Robin.

"Of course I do," she said, speaking for the first time in the presence of the senators. "He was the one who insisted that the Orb of Azarath be removed to Earth."

Marcus nodded.

"A wise idea indeed," he agreed.

"_At the_ _time_," Jonathon Vaughan added sceptically. Robin got the feeling that the auburn-haired senator wasn't particularly enamoured with this Seth Elliott, whoever he was, and his ideas.

Marcus raised an eyebrow.

"Would you care to explain yourself, Jonathon?" He asked. Jonathon sat up again, locking his long pale fingers together.

"Well, yes. At the time of the orb's removal it was a good idea, but now the orb has been stolen and in accordance to Raven Roth's narration, the planet Earth is in susceptible peril."

"Does Seth even know that the orb is missing?" Catriona Darke – a tall woman with deep purple hair and similarly-coloured eyes – inquired. Marcus shook his head.

"I do not think so," he answered.

"And he hasn't been keeping tabs on it?" Aurora Mariotte pressed, shaking back her mane of red hair. "I thought he had been assigned as guardian of the orb?..."

"How can he guard it if he's never here?" Jonathon snapped.

Robin blinked and looked sideways at Raven; he hadn't meant to turn up here and start a fight. Raven didn't seem too perplexed.

"They're always like this," she muttered. "My people are a peaceful race – we do not war and we believe in democracy – but this lot sure can squabble for hours on end…"

Robin turned his eyes back to the 12 senators. They were conferring heatedly, and the Boy Wonder noticed it seemed to be Jonathon Vaughan stirring up the trouble; Marcus Vandiver was trying to keep the peace between the others as they took sides, while Arella Roth simply sat like a porcelain doll, pretty and completely oblivious.

"That orb is a dangerous object, Marcus!" Jonathon was saying irritably. "Seth is the most powerful out of all of us, and you're telling me he wasn't even made an effort to get it back?"

"Marcus already said he doesn't think Seth knows," Michael Shelley said patiently, running a hand through his combed-back dark hair.

"Isn't it _his_ responsibility to know where it is!" Jonathon fired back.

"Please, gentlemen, _order!_" Marcus said desperately. "Why don't we let Raven explain the situation to us? She is the one who informed us of this dilemma. Raven?"

Raven nodded and looked briefly at Robin.

"I already explained most of it," she said quietly.

"To _me_," Marcus corrected. "Tell the others. Tell _Jonathon_."

Jonathon Vaughan rolled his hazel eyes and leaned back in his chair.

"There's a prophecy," Raven explained, turning her violet eyes on Jonathon. "A prophecy telling of the apocalypse, and it is interlinked with Azarathian history, concerning the founding of Azarath at the hand of Arella. It says that one of a Chosen Few will arise to claim the apocalyptic power of the Orb of Azarath, but only following two instances. One, the obtainment of a key; and two, the subsequent death of the one known as the Avenger."

"And the Avenger…?" James Sinclair looked sideways at Jonathon before looking directly at Robin.

"Oh, the boy. Makes sense," Zachariah Warrix agreed with a nod.

"Right. Our friend Robin," Marcus confirmed.

"And I suppose he wasn't born with those wings?" Sarah de Marçon stated rather than asked, twisting a strand of gold hair around her finger.

Marcus looked first at Robin, then to Raven, silently conveying her to continue.

Raven opened her mouth, then looked at Robin and he knew, even though she had not spoken, what she meant. She was asking him if he wanted her to mention about the rape.

He shook his head and she nodded pertly. There was no need for her to say it; he knew that, if her people were anything like Raven concerning their powers, they probably already knew.

"Yes, Robin is the Avenger," Raven went on softly. "And the enemy in question is one we have come up against many times before. His name is Slade and he is a very dangerous criminal. With the power of the orb in his grasp, I do not like to think what he would be capable of if the prophecy were to be fulfilled."

"And the Avenger has to be _killed_, correct?" Calica White pressed.

Raven nodded.

"By whom? This one you call Slade?" Lawrence Westten added. "Or anyone?"

"We do not know the ins and outs of the prophecy," Raven explained.

"But the wings? Something to do with this "Avenger" persona, I presume?" Emma Tomasi inquired.

"A death-attempt backfired, perhaps?" Jonathon added, pressing his fingertips together like Sherlock Holmes.

"We don't _know_," Raven said helplessly. "That's why we came here. We hoped you could help him…"

"And we shall _try_, Raven," Marcus promised. "We'll do whatever we can. I have already made contact with Seth Elliott. When he arrives back in Azarath he will take over in the supervision of this strange case."

Jonathon snorted.

"He can't even keep track of a stone ball and you're putting the poor kid's life in his hands…" he muttered darkly.

"Seth has a greater knowledge of magic – both light and dark – than any of us here. It is best that he handles it," Marcus said dismissively. "He will look into the issue of the Orb of Azarath in due time."

"There might not _be_ due time!" Jonathon snapped, standing up abruptly. He turned sharply towards Raven and Robin. "When did you say the orb was stolen from Jump City Museum, Raven?"

"Around… a week ago?..." Raven was unsure and looked briefly at Robin for confirmation; he nodded, gazing intently at Jonathon Vaughan. He could tell that this senator didn't have time for languid methods or unclear facts.

Much like himself.

Marcus Vandiver, on the other hand, seemed completely in confidence of this elusive Seth Elliott, Head Senator. Nobody was exactly siding with Jonathon, but Robin noticed that some of them were nodding slightly in agreement with the auburn-haired man. He noticed also, with definite interest, that it was the other men, albeit Marcus, - Michael Shelley, James Sinclair, Lawrence Westten and Zachariah Warrix – who were doing the agreeing. The women were frowning at Jonathon's scepticism and Arella simply appeared bored, as though she went through this everyday. Maybe she did.

He tore his eyes away from the senators and looked at Raven.

"Yeah, maybe just over a week ago," he said, nodding again. "Beast Boy and I did the inquiry at the museum following the theft."

"And there was nothing unusual?" Jonathon probed, still standing. "Nothing out of the ordinary?"

"Well, nothing forensic-" Robin started.

"And you're telling me the _almighty_ Seth Elliott didn't know about this?" Jonathon interrupted, near hysterical as he turned on Marcus once again.

"Jonathon, if you're going to make a scene in front of Raven and her friend, perhaps you should leave," Marcus countered coolly, evading Jonathon's outburst. "Perhaps an hour's meditation will calm you down."

"What good is meditation going to do anyone at a time like _this!_" Jonathon demanded. Robin agreed with him, but didn't voice his opinion, and out of the corner of his eye to the right he saw James Sinclair and Zachariah Warrix nod slightly too.

"Wake up, Marcus!" Jonathon went on irritably. "We've had a centuries-old prophecy arise out of nowhere concerning the Orb of Azarath, _our_ orb, and it's been stolen by some mortal _idiot _hell-bent on destroying the planet Earth and murdering this poor kid over here-" – he gestured wildly at Robin at this point – "- who now has _wings_ sticking out of his back thanks to some form of magic, and none of us are exactly sure of the motive behind it… and you're telling me to _meditate? Mellow out, dude?_ Is _that_ it? You think Seth's so brilliant he can sort all this out by himself? Well, unless he has a _time-machine_, Marcus, I think-"

"Jonathon, sit down."

All eyes turned to Arella, who had risen from her own chair and was standing firmly, her deep eyes on Jonathon. He was silent, watching her. Her voice was not angry or unpleasant; it was an order, but not one that he would resent. More of a suggestion, really.

Jonathon Vaughan breathed out heavily and sat down again, settling back into his seat between Calica White and James Sinclair.

Robin glanced at Raven; she was smiling a little. Robin himself didn't know whether to smile at this or not; he now knew where Raven got that uncanny knack of silencing arguments with a simple "Shut up".

"Back to the matter at hand," Marcus said as if nothing had happened; Arella sat down again and started to examine the nails of her left hand. "Seth will handle the situation when he returns. As I have said, I have already contacted him. I explained the basis of what we knew, but I shall make contact with him again once this meeting has adjourned with full details of the situation. In the meantime, however, we shall handle the issue of your friend, Raven."

Robin felt Raven's hand brush slightly against his, but wasn't sure if it was intentional.

"And the procedure would be?" Raven pressed.

Marcus looked briefly at Arella, who returned his gaze and said nothing.

"Well, much the same as was practiced with your mother when she became impregnated with you, Raven," Marcus explained, turning his gaze back on the two Teen Titans.

"But Robin isn't _pregnant_," Raven said, sounding incredulous. "He's a _boy!_"

Some of the female senators stifled giggles and fought to keep straight faces as Marcus ploughed on:-

"Ah, _no_… that wasn't _quite_ what I meant. As your mother herself will tell you, Raven, she was kept in specific conditions throughout the duration of her pregnancy. Because, obviously…"

"_Trigon_ was the father," Arella finished herself, her voice quiet.

"Yes… _that_… Anyway, since we do not know exactly what is wrong with Robert-"

"His name is _Robin_," Raven corrected mildly. Robin raised an eyebrow.

_Actually, it's Dick…_

He kept that to himself. He didn't want to confuse Marcus even more.

"Yes, of course. Sorry… Well, I doubt that this sudden change in his anatomy is a good thing, so it would be best if he were to be monitored in the same fashion as Arella. When Seth arrives he can decide where we should go from there."

Raven nodded.

"Fine, that seems like a good idea," she agreed. "However…" She produced the arrow from beneath her long purple cloak. Marcus and Jonathon both stood abruptly at the sight of it.

"Raven, what…?" Marcus trailed off, running a hand through his dark hair.

Raven approached them both and they came to meet her, Marcus with one hand outstretched to receive it. She gave it to him and both men were silent for a while as they studied the beautiful arrow.

"Where did you get this, Raven?" Jonathon asked eventually, looking up at her.

"Slade shot it into Robin's heart," Raven explained. Marcus looked up too at this.

"What? But how…?"

"How is he still alive?" Catriona Darke asked from behind them. All eyes immediately turned on Robin and he wished he turn invisible.

"We don't _know_," Raven said desperately. "But it definitely carries some form of magic, and the wings appeared the same day he was shot – that was yesterday – so we know whatever it's done to him isn't good…"

She looked back at Robin at this point and he saw that she looked worried. He frowned at her and she turned away again, facing back to Marcus and Jonathon.

"And earlier," she went on, lowering her voice so that he couldn't hear her, "he lost his temper over something and when I touched him I felt a blinding evil shooting through me, and it came right out of him. It was not his aura, but then, if it was not _his_, then what…?"

Robin could hear the three of them wildly whispering, occasionally casting worried glances in his direction, and it was really starting to annoy him. Instead he turned his attention to the other senators; they too seemed bored and irritated by their sudden disclusion and were occupying themselves in other ways. Michael Shelley and Lawrence Westten were debating something, Aurora Mariotte and Catriona Darke were engaged in a conversation with Calica White and Emma Tomasi, Sarah de Marçon was absently braiding her blonde hair, and James Sinclair and Zachariah Warrix were playing _Twenty-ones_ with a deck of cards.

He looked at Arella, and was freaked out when he saw that she was staring straight back at him, the tiniest of smiles on her pretty face. She didn't move at all, and neither did he, and they remained that way until Robin suddenly found his vision obscured

by the red silk-robed figure of Marcus Vandiver.

"Robin, if what Raven says is true, then you may be in grave danger," the senator said gently, taking the Boy Wonder by the shoulders. Robin blinked at him, confused.

"Excuse me?"

"Raven says that she sensed something evil in you," Jonathon explained, coming to Marcus' side with Raven in tow. "Something that was not a part of your soul, and if she is right…"

Robin looked from Marcus to Jonathon to a very upset-looking Raven, then back again. He hadn't been particularly afraid before, but now their expressions frightened him. They looked so worried, as though there was something terribly wrong with him…

"The meeting is adjourned," Marcus said, turning to the other senators. "You may leave for now. Another meeting will be called as soon as Seth Elliott arrives back in Azarath."

The 10 other senators, including Arella, left their seats and filed out silently, the door closing behind Michael Shelley, the last to leave.

"Now, you need not be frightened," Marcus went on quickly, turning back to Robin. "We believe that we can help you to conquer this evil and banish it from your body, but you _must_ do as we say."

Robin nodded mutely, struggling to take what they were saying in.

"The thing is, we have seen this before," Jonathon said quietly. "It's usually possession by a demon of some sort, and your case seems to be the same. Usually the possessed person gains certain characteristics, such as claws or fangs or savage personalities, or in _your_ case, wings. It's nothing life-threatening as long as it is treated in the right way, so don't worry too much. If you listen to us and allow us to help you, we'll be able to get it out of you before it does any damage."

"We've noticed that these demons usually bask in certain indulgences," Marcus added. "That's normally the reason they take over people in the first place. They feast on souls, you understand, so when they're done wreaking havoc or whatever they're doing, they eat their host's soul and then leave and go elsewhere."

Jonathon saw Robin go pale and glared at Marcus.

"Listen, kid, _don't worry_," he pressed. "It's very rare it happens. Like Marcus said, these demons thrive on indulgence."

Robin frowned.

"What do you mean by _indulgence?_" He asked.

Jonathon actually grinned.

"Well, all those bad naughty things that are oh-so-much-fun," he gushed. "Basically, no sweet stuff, no junk food; you have to go on a staple diet, you know, bread and water and other stuff that's _good_ for you."

"But how does that help-" Robin started; it seemed stupid to him, that you could exorcise a demon from your body by doing what mommy had told you years ago, "Eat your vegetables".

"Because the demons don't like it," Jonathon interrupted. "I know it seems stupid; these demons are like little kids, I swear… So, no chocolate, no cake, nothing that's considered to be pleasurable… Let's see… no _sex_…"

Robin blinked and looked at Raven. She shrugged, still with the worried expression on her face.

"Robin, you _have_ to listen to this," Marcus said firmly, shaking him a little. "He's right; I suppose you wouldn't really be having sex here, but you can't do anything that's even _related _to it, not even mast-"

"Ok, ok, I _get it!_" Robin interrupted sharply, utterly perplexed. "No jerking off…"

Raven's head snapped up.

"_Robin!_"

He could tell she was annoyed, and he knew that her tone implied; "There's a time and a place for your blunt American slang, Wonder Boy; _this_ isn't it.".

"It doesn't matter, Raven," Marcus sighed. "As long as he understands…"

Robin looked at Jonathon; the auburn-haired senator was smirking at his said American slang, but he hurriedly straightened his face as he realised Robin was watching him.

"Also, there are a few other minor things," Marcus said, clearing his throat. "You have to bathe twice a day, morning and night."

Robin jerked a thumb towards his wings sceptically, indicating; "Point me towards a shower I can actually get into and I'm _way_ ahead of you,".

"You haven't seen the bathroom, obviously," Jonathon said mildly. "The word "swimming pool" springs to mind…"

Robin looked briefly at him, then back at Marcus.

"Meditation," the senator said simply. "I'm sure Raven will be only too obliged to teach you how to do it, but some of the council will be assigned to see to it that you spend your days constructively. You'll be educated in different ways and means of meditation and soul-centering, enabling you to control the demon within you more easily. Also, you may read, if you wish. The Senate House library is always open and is home to many thousands of books."

"What about martial arts?" Robin inquired. Marcus shook his head.

"We are not denying that your Earthly martial arts are indeed a complex and skilled art form requiring great discipline and prowess. However, even the fluid katas feed aggression, another thing the demon thrives on. We cannot allow you to practice it, I'm afraid."

"Don't you even have a _gym?_"

Marcus peered hard at Robin.

"You are an intelligent boy; I am able to tell. You are gifted with a great mind. Perhaps it is time you learned to use it correctly. That is the analogy of the Azarathians. We believe that training the mind in turn hones the body." He looked at Raven. "You have to be born with the ability of telekinesis, but there is no reason why you should not have as well-trained a mind as Raven, Robin. You might be surprised by what comes of it…"

* * *

Ah, so _that's_ what's wrong with our boy… 

_Hehhehheh_…

I hope you like my OCs so far and that they didn't piss you off. My personal favourite is Jonathon (_not_ named after one of my friends; neither are Marcus or that Seth Elliott guy… whom I promise you will be seeing and hearing a lot more of), which is why he is so pessimistic…

Next chapter: More wisdom from Jonathon Vaughan, and a confrontation with Beast Boy…

Anyone who has seen "that" _One Piece_ AMV… sail on (to the next chapter)!

- RobinRocks xXx


	13. Decisions

Yes, it _is_ quite a lame title, I admit…

Jonathon is back with more bitchy remarks in relation to Seth Elliott, while BB has some words of his own to get out…

Decisions

Robin pushed open the door to his room and whistled as he entered, taking in the interior. Even his old room in Wayne Manor couldn't compete with this. It was huge and luxurious and was like the bedroom of a king. The carpet was white, as soft and thick as cat fur and really very nice to walk on in bare feet. There was the biggest walk-in closet he had ever seen in his life stretching from one end of the massive room to the other, the sliding panels comprising of mirrors from ceiling to floor so that he could see at least ten other Robins along the stretch of the room. There was a huge Sherlock Holmes-style padded chair, a wide mahogany desk with another smaller chair, and there was an elaborate chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Moving into the room he found a door and investigated, discovering an en-suite bathroom comprised mostly of white marble. And it had freebies.

He had an utterly awed nose around, then went back into the main room and found an archway at the top right-hand side of the room, draped with royal blue velvet curtains. He parted them and found a massive balcony; he realised he was at the very back of the Senate House as the balcony over looked a glittering, crystalline lake as far as the eye could see, reflecting the billions of stars and Azarath's twin moons.

He re-entered the bedroom, anticipating the best part.

The bed.

A king-size four poster. Red silk drapes. Red silk sheets. So many pillows he couldn't count them. Super-thick mattress.

All for him.

He dived headlong onto it, wrecking the immaculate display as he landed heavily in the middle of the mattress and sprawled out, spreading his wings right out. He had had a nice bed at Wayne Manor, Bruce had a very nice bed – good for bouncing on - indeed, and Raven had a very nice bed too.

But none of them had been as nice as this. He was glad the No-Indulgence rule didn't include beds.

He could tell he was going to like it here, even though he wasn't allowed to do or eat "fun" stuff, as Jonathon Vaughan had put it. He had just come from the best bath in the history of baths, he reckoned; again, Wayne Manor's tub just couldn't compete. "Swimming pool" had been an understatement, to say the least. The bathroom was huge, bigger than this bedroom, all white marble and crystal, with no less than three chandeliers casting broken rainbows across the floor. The actual bath itself was 20ft deep, sunk into the marble floor, and full almost to the top with hot water and thick ice-white foam. The room was hot and steamy, utterly languid and laid-back, with tropical plants everywhere, with a jacuzzi and sauna down the other end with a _mini martini bar_, for Pete's sake. It was like a resort where nobody cared about anything, and nobody cared that they didn't care about anything.

Now, feeling much better – but still starving – he was sprawled on his bed in a white silk bathrobe and boxer shorts, the robe with slits up the back for his wings. His other clothes were not where he had left them, which was in the middle of the bathroom floor, and these had been folded neatly in their place. He hadn't noticed the switch, but that was probably because he had been splashing about like a drowning cat – only purposefully. He still wore his mask, however, but his hair was no longer spiky, now soft and natural and too long. He had demanded hair-gel, been told that hair-gel was an indulgence of the vanity variety and that therefore he wasn't allowed to use it. Also, it appeared to be an Earth thing.

He looked to the left and saw to his delight that there was a marble bowl of fruit on his bedside table. Nothing boring, either; pineapples, peaches, pears, purple grapes, kiwis, apricots, plums, chunks of mango… He helped himself to a peach and sank his teeth into it, a little juice dribbling down his chin. Maybe it was because it was Azarathian, or maybe it was because he was simply starving, but it was the best peach he had ever tasted.

_Fruit's not an indulgence. Fruit is good for you…_

He repeated that in his head as he lay and munched it, his free hand on his stomach. He was licking the last of it from the stone when the door opened and Jonathon Vaughan entered. Robin sat up, putting his peach stone on the bedside table. Now, framed alone in the room, he was able to see the senator properly.

He was tall, very slim, with a thin frame like Robin's own. Pale, like the other Azarathians, with shining auburn hair cut into long layers so that it resembled a grown-out bowl cut. His eyes were a deep hazel, more green than brown, and he was clean-shaven. He wore black silk robes tied at the waist with a silver band, and a long silk cloak of emerald green, much like Raven's. It even had a hood, but it was down, and was fastened with two pins, one on each shoulder seam, instead of Raven's single one. He was young, like Marcus Vandiver, maybe late twenties, Robin guessed. Not much younger than Bruce, really.

Robin looked at the senator's hands. He was carrying a medium-sized bowl, which, judging by the steam rising from it, contained something hot, a silver fork and spoon, a few slices of thick freshly-baked bread and a glass of water on a silver tray.

"Here's your bread and water," Jonathon grinned, coming over to the bed and handing Robin the tray. "With a little extra."

He sat down on the bed next to Robin, who was sitting up properly now with his bare legs over the edge of the mattress.

"What's this?" Robin inquired, picking up his spoon; even after the peach, he was so hungry he could eat just about anything. He was looking down at the bowl. He could see a lot of rice and it was all white; it smelt good, though, deliciously spicy.

"It's an Asian dish," Jonathon explained, reaching for the fruit bowl. He selected a pear and bit into it. "Rice, white fish and coconut milk, with a few secret spices for extra flavour. Nice, trust me. Try it."

Robin nodded and complied; he swallowed and looked at Jonathon, who was biting huge chunks out of his pear.

"Mmm… That _is_ nice…" he agreed. He ate in silence for a while, relishing every mouthful.

"It's amazing."

Robin looked up, his glass of ice-cold water halfway to his lips.

"What's amazing?" He took a drink; more refreshing than Coca Cola, and less sweet. He'd almost forgotten what water tasted like.

"Your hair. I didn't realise what a difference it would make."

Robin shrugged and started on a piece of thick fresh bread.

"Why'd _you_ bring me this?" He asked, swallowing. "I didn't think they'd have senators waiting on me hand and foot."

Jonathon grinned again.

"We're not. I just brought you this up 'cause I wanted to talk to you properly without that idiot Marcus butting in."

Robin blinked.

"What, don't you like _him_ either?" He asked incredulously. Jonathon took another bite of pear and chewed thoughtfully.

"Yeah, I do. Marcus is a great guy. One of my best friends, I should think. But he _is_ an idiot. Vice-Head Senator, you see. I guess it's just gone to his head. Him and I, we don't always see eye to eye, as you may have noticed."

Robin nodded.

"You don't like Seth Elliott, though, do you? Whoever he is…"

Jonathon snorted with laughter.

"Not really. We don't believe in hate in Azarath, but let me tell you, kid; it comes pretty damn close."

"Why?" Robin pressed.

Jonathon looked long and hard at him, chewing slowly. He swallowed and the hand holding the pear relaxed.

"I probably shouldn't say anything, you know, kid," he said. "He's the Head Senator, and I'm just… you know, _a_ senator. I shouldn't be turning you against him."

Robin's eyes narrowed a little. Again his detective's mind was taking over.

"Why would you be turning me against him? What's he done?"

"Oh. Nothing, really." Jonathon sighed. "I've never seen him _do_ anything. And from what I've seen, he's a nice guy. But, it's just… You heard Marcus say that Seth knew an awful lot about dark magic?"

Robin nodded slowly.

"Yeah, well, he _does_. A little _too_ much, if you ask me. I mean, Seth knows stuff that you could only know if you _practiced_ dark magic."

"Maybe he experiments-"

"I don't think so. When he talks about it, his eyes sort of glitter, like he's excited. He's no mad scientist, Seth Elliott. He knows _exactly_ what he's talking about, and I just think, you know, this guy is Head Senator of Azarath, and the assigned protector of the Orb of Azarath. Not a very _good_ protector, as I'm sure you already figured…"

Robin frowned at Jonathon. He was starting to see what the senator was getting at, and he knew that if he were in Jonathon's position, he too would be weighing out such facts and thinking Seth's expendable knowledge of black magic suspicious.

"We Azarathians, we're peaceful people; we practice magic and healing and things, but it's all white magic. It's all good, and yet the most important person in Azarath is fooling around with _black_ magic? He can get hold of all sorts of sources and everything, and he's generally in close proximity with the orb… if he ever took it into his head to use that orb for his own ends, he _could_. It just worries me, you know?"

Robin nodded.

"Yeah… Yeah, I think you're right, Jonathon." His masked eyes met with Jonathon's hazel ones.

"Well, like I said, I don't want to turn you against him. He's a nice enough guy, and if anyone can help you out here, it's him. Maybe I'm wrong about all this; it's just a scenario," Jonathon said slowly. "He's been here longer than I have; I don't really have the right to judge him…"

Robin nodded again. Jonathon finished his pear and got to his feet.

"Well, sleep tight, kid," he said. "See you in the morning…"

He left the room, his green cloak floating behind him. Robin finished eating, thinking about Jonathon's suspicions. Then he cursed himself as he realised he had forgotten to ask the senator where his friends were. Raven had left him at the door of the bathroom and he hadn't seen her since. As for Beast Boy, Cyborg and Starfire, he hadn't seen them for at least two hours. He wondered where they were, if they were having fun without him. Maybe he would go and…

_No fun, remember, Wonder Boy?_

He sighed heavily, set his tray to one side and made for the bathroom to get ready for bed. If anything, he was looking forwards to testing out the bed.

He returned from the en-suite bathroom 5 minutes later and found a bare-footed Beast Boy bouncing on his bed. He watched the shape-shifter for a while, speechless.

"Beast Boy, what are you doing?" He asked finally, beginning to feel dizzy from watching him.

"Bouncing," Beast Boy replied matter-of-factly. He stopped jumping and simply stood on the creased red sheets.

Robin folded his arms.

"Don't you have your _own_ bed to bounce on?"

"Well, yeah, but this is one sweet room you got here. Mine an' Cy's aren't _half_ as big – or cushy – as this."

"Right." Robin crossed to the bed and sat heavily on it. Beast Boy joined him.

"Thought you weren't speaking to me," Robin reminded him coolly.

"Well, I wasn't, but…" Beast Boy looked at the floor, then at his friend. "…I believe you."

Robin blinked.

"You do?" He asked, surprised. "What changed your mind?"

"Well, what with everything that's been going on recently, you know with the orb and the Avenger and now your wings and all that… you're having a hard time and I figured I was being petty by not speaking to you."

Robin sighed.

"That's ok. So you believe it was for you?"

"Yeah, I guess so… I mean, you have an apocalypse to stop, so I realised that you wouldn't exactly be wasting your time lying to me about what happened with Terra. And thinking about it, I guess I should have believed you in the first place. I never got to kiss Terra, so she made it up by doing the next best thing; kissing _you_ and getting you to tell me."

"I wish she hadn't."

"Yeah, me too, but it's over now. All water under the bridge…"

Robin twigged.

"You've been talking to Raven," he realised. "She probably made you see sense…"

Beast Boy grinned sheepishly.

"Well, yeah… but she was right. I _was_ being stupid."

Robin smiled.

"Yeah… but I _am_ sorry, Beast Boy. I know what Terra means to you."

Beast Boy shrugged.

"I think I love her," he said quietly. "But I don't know if I can continue to. She's working for Slade, and although she's not evil, she _could_ be."

"Well, maybe…"

"So, what's up with you, then?" Beast Boy asked, changing the subject. "You're ok, right?"

"I'm possessed."

Silence.

Finally Beast Boy laughed weakly.

"Oh, right. Yeah. _Possessed_. Like _The Exorcist_. Hey, can you do the 180 degree neck twist thing?"

"Beast Boy, I'm not joking. I really am. These wings, they're a basic characteristic of demonic possession."

Silence again. Beast Boy was simply staring at him, his green eyes wide.

"No kidding?... You're really…?" He trailed off and his gloved hands morphed into talons. He bared his pointed teeth and growled.

"Well, yeah… you know, without the whole growling thing…"

Beast Boy returned to normal.

"But… but you're going to be alright, aren't you?" He pressed. Robin looked at the floor.

"Yeah, should be…"

"But it's not definite?" The pitch in Beast Boy's voice was getting higher with every sentence he spoke.

Robin shrugged hopelessly, still intrigued in the soft carpet.

"Beast Boy, I don't _know_…"

"And what if they can't do anything?"

Robin looked up; it was something he hadn't even thought about. What had Marcus said?… The demon created havoc, devoured its host's soul and then made off. Ok, fair enough, but what happened to the unfortunate host after that?…

He shrugged again in despair.

"I don't know."

"Will you die?" Beast Boy bantered; Robin was silent. "Will you, Robin? _Answer me_, dude!"

"Beast Boy, _I don't know!_" Robin snapped. "I wish I _did_, I wish I knew fully what was _wrong_ with me, but I _don't!_"

"You have to get better, ok?" Beast Boy said firmly. "You _have_ to, Robin, we _need_ you."

"I've told you, _I quit_."

"Dude, you _still_ quit? I thought that was just a temper-tantrum."

Robin lay back on the bed and ran a hand through his silky hair.

"I'm sorry, Beast Boy… I just want to go back to Gotham…"

"But _we_ need you. How can you be so selfish?"

"Look, I'm doing this for _all_ of us…" Robin sighed heavily. "I'm not a good leader, Beast Boy. I thought I _was_, because you all listened to me and never questioned and I come up with pretty good plans and stuff… but… you're right, _all_ of you. You and Raven and Cyborg and Bruce; I _am_ selfish. I can't help it, when I want something done I can't be bothered to give out orders and explain the situation, so I just do it myself and then I usually just land everyone else in trouble up to the neck… And with this prophecy, it's absolutely dire we do this thing right, and none of us can afford to have me screwing it up the way I do everything else. And Cyborg, he's got the makings of a great leader; I think he could be better than me because he's more level-headed and he doesn't fly off the wall about stuff the way I do, or he doesn't get obsessed about stuff like I do with Slade… He could handle the city no problem and I know you'd all listen to him so I wouldn't have any qualms about handing over the reins. I like the authority but I guess it's kinda gone to my head a bit so maybe I'd be better off back with Batman so he can flatten me if I get out of line. You guys can handle anything that comes up in Jump, and me and Batman can work on the prophecy thing."

"But we'll miss you," Beast Boy said mournfully, the other boy's epic speech going completely over his green head.

"Beast Boy, I've thought this through, and that's what I want to do. It sounds fickle, but I _loved_ being a Titan up until now, when suddenly I _hate_ being in the team. And it's not you guys – you're great friends – but it's _me_. I'm sick of myself, and I'm sick of Robin the Boy Wonder, and I'm sick of _everything_ just smacking me right in the face."

"So what'll you do?" Beast Boy questioned, his voice small. "If you're gonna hang up the cape."

Robin shrugged.

"Depends. Depends on whether they can get this thing out of me or not. If they can, I'll go to Gotham and shack up with Bruce, and just be sodding _normal_ and work on the prophecy thing on the side. Might try to actually _graduate_ from high school. And if they _can't_ get the demon out of me… well, I'm screwed, I guess. Either way, I'm laying Batboy to rest. After all these years, I guess it turns out I'm just not cut out for this superhero thing."

He closed his eyes and exhaled heavily, suddenly exhausted. Beast Boy watched him silently, unable to think of anything to say.

"Well, goodnight then, Robin," the shape-shifter said finally, his voice stiff. "Though maybe you should think about this more carefully…"

"Night, Beast Boy."

He didn't open his eyes until he heard Beast Boy leave the room and shut the heavy door. No doubt the shape-shifter would relay the entire conversation to the others, but he found himself too tired to care. He stood, smoothed out his creased sheets and folded them back, then pulled off his silk robe and allowed himself that one indulgence of sinking into what felt like clouds beneath his body. He was sedated almost immediately and suspected that there was some kind of magic laced within the fine fibres of the sheets, enchanted upon the pillows where he rested his head. Despite all his worry, he honestly couldn't remember ever feeling this relaxed and utterly contented as he closed his eyes and allowed sleep to claim his consciousness.

_If this isn't an indulgence, I'd love to see what Azarathians do for fun…_

* * *

Quit? He _wishes_…

Slade and Terra might be back next chapter. Maybe not. They'll be back sometimes soon, anyway…

I think we've all had enough of Robin moaning…

Either way, I've spent too long setting the stage. Things begin to properly take off next chapter, I promise!

"See" y'all in two weeks!

TTFN!

- RobinRocks, the ever-lovin' Boy-Love Wonder xXx


	14. Echoes in the Darkness

Joyous greetings to you. friends! It is most glorious to see you! Heh… "see"…

Okay, I'll quit "talking" like Starfire…

I am back from my two weeks of perilous doom a.k.a the dreaded Mediterranean cruise… On a brighter note, I found Morocco! Uh, yeah, well, only a few people will know what I am on about here. Basically I have not seen TT Season 5 because British Cartoon Network is _lame_ and probably won't show it for like another year… _BUT_ I do know there is an episode where Robin goes to Morocco. I thought Morocco was in South America for some peculiar reason, had an argument with Quinn and His Quill about it, and it turns out it was in North Africa all along… And I haven't actually been there, but I went to Gibraltar on the cruise, which is also known as "The Last Point in Europe", and it is only SEVEN miles from Africa.

And from the cliffs of it – also know as "The Pillar of Hercules" – you can see Morocco.

So yes, I have found it. I know where it is now. Yay for me, thankyou very much, Elvis has left the building…

Right; new chapter! And stuff actually _happens!_ Stuff that _doesn't_ involve Robin being somebody's whore! Yay!

To:- Phoenix Skyborne (yeah, comfy beds are cool:) And I will be sure to R+R the new chapters of _Changes: Nine Months More_ ASAP!); Seductive Angel (nope, Arella's still alive; this is set in Season TWO, my friend, not Season FOUR. That's how Terra is in it… And hey, I've always been meaning to ask… _where_ exactly did you get the name "Pookie" for Robin?…); YamiTai (glad you liked the chapters, my crazy friend, and I am also glad you like Jonathon:) I'm telling ya, he's the only one with _any_ sense whatsoever… Oh, BTW, you were right; Seth _is_ named after the Egyptian God of Death, but that doesn't exactly make him _bad_…); Quinn and His Quill (you cannot possibly compare _my_ Seth to _your_ Seth because _my_ Seth says more than four lines and doesn't get knocked out in the seventh paragraph of the story! _And_ he doesn't have to deal with people who lose their swords! And BTW… I found Morocco!); Phasmatis (**a new reviewer! **Thankyou very much for the kind compliments and don't worry, there will be a _helluva_ lot more RobinxRaven soon enough…); Frostflower (**another new reviewer!** Yay, I am loved! Thanks for the tip on Arella. I do know what she looks like now but I didn't when I wrote this so copied the 80s_ New Teen Titans_ version); Rocky-White Wolf of Curses (jeez, could you have picked a more elaborate name? ;) I am glad that you too like Jonathon Vaughan!); and last but certainly not least, my partner-in-crime… I mean _co-writer_, Narroch06 (nope, all the senators are not actually necessary, but you can forget about most of them for now. Just focus on Jonathon, Marcus and Seth. Even Arella isn't very important… And as for Robin's demonic possession? They might, as Jonathon said, seem like little kids, but this ain't child's play… You will see…).

Also to other readers/reviewers, including Daybreak25, Aeris-Raven, Thrillzone,Timberfox and any others; this is for you too, my friends! I hope you enjoy it!

Let us allow the curtain to rise…

Echoes in the Darkness

"Azarath. Metrion. _Zinthos_…"

Raven sank through the door to Robin's room and straightened up, adjusting her white cloak over her similarly white leotard. It felt right now, to wear white, considering she was home after all this time.

She wasn't supposed to be in here, she knew without the slightest trace of guilt. Marcus had spoken to her alone after Robin had been packed off to the bathroom, and informed her that it would be better if Robin were to be separated from his friends altogether until the demon's grip on him was weakened considerably. The other Teen Titans, Marcus had explained, might influence him to do things he was not supposed to in his present condition. Raven had agreed, and had returned to the left wing quarters of the others to find Beast Boy gone. Cyborg had explained that the shape-shifter had gone to root out Robin and find out the details. Raven had protested and told them of Marcus' assumptions and orders; Starfire had cried about both Robin's dilemma and the fact that she was not allowed to see him.

Raven herself was not sure if the "Turn-Robin-into-a-loner" movement included herself or not, nor did she care. She wanted to see him, to talk to him, and no-one - not Marcus Vandiver, not Jonathon Vaughan, not Seth Elliott - was going to stop her.

She moved silently into the room and made straight for the huge bed. He would be asleep, of course; the huge clock in the entrance hall had informed her that it was quarter past one in the morning. Sure enough she found him sprawled out on his back, sound asleep. She lit the thick church candle at his bedside so that she could see him properly and the first thing that struck her about him was that he looked… well, _dead_. He was flat out on his back, the red silk sheets tangled at his waist and showing off his bare chest and a little of his boxer shorts. His black hair was all clean and silky across his masked face, his wings spread right out spanning across the entire width of the king-size mattress, and his skin… Raven frowned as she looked at him. Robin was pale, true, but not _this_ pale. He was white, his whole body almost vampiric, his face utterly bloodless. Her mother's assumption was correct; she didn't know how it was possible, but Robin _did_ look Azarathian. She had seen his eyes before, clear crystalline pools of deep azure that matched many of the Azarathians themselves, he had the same type of silky hair and pale skin, and when she looked at one of his wrists she could see the similarity there too; his veins were a very deep blue, extremely delicate and close to the surface of his near-translucent skin. How he could look like one of her own was a mystery when he was so clearly American, so obviously from Earth, but he did.

She sat on the edge of the bed and folded her hands in her lap as she silently watched him sleep. She couldn't help but be worried about him, even though Marcus had informed her that there really was very little to worry about as long as Robin complied with the senate's orders. But now, just looking at him… there was absolutely no colour in his face, and she didn't know if was true, but she got the feeling that if she touched him he wouldn't be warm. But then, if he was cold, he would be dead, an assumption betrayed by the fact that she could see his pale chest rising and falling in regular breathing stance. Growing up in Azarath, she had seen her fair share of people – Azarathians and humans alike – afflicted by demonic possession, some in worse states than others, but none of them had been like this. She put her hand on his forehead and was slightly surprised when she felt how warm he was. She played with his silky hair, tickling his face with it, but he didn't even twitch. She frowned more deeply; Robin was an extremely light sleeper and she knew that even the slightest touch caused him to wake up. Instead he was just lying there like Sleeping Beauty – with a few vast differences – completely dead to the world. She could always try kissing him…

She smiled slightly at that thought, not sure whether to laugh or not. And then, even as she watched him, one of his wings flexed slightly, the fingers of his open right hand twitched a little…

_He didn't know why he was there, or how he had even got there. He was waist-deep in a pool, fully-clothed, dry from his ribcage up. His lower half was understandably soaked as it was submerged, his wet cape floating on the clear deep blue surface. His wings fluttered, droplets of water flicking off them. He looked up and saw the tiled ceiling typical of a swimming pool and could smell the chlorine. Looking across the unstill delphinium surface he saw a piece of red paper bobbing up and down. He splashed over to it, getting wetter and wetter until he was nearly up to his neck as the pool deepened. He grabbed hold of the paper and shook off the excess water before turning it over and reading two words;_

_You're dead._

_Instinctively he turned, cried out in shock as he saw Slade diving headlong at him from out of nowhere. Slade smashed into him, sending him under. He scrabbled to the surface and broke it, gasping for breath. Shaking his soaked hair from his eyes he looked around wildly for Slade; he felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around. Slade punched him directly in the face and he tasted blood; then was grabbed around the throat before he could even get his breath. He heard Slade laughing softly at him._

"_You're a **monster**," Slade mocked him. "How can you be the one destined to save the mortal world when you aren't even **human**?"_

_Slade let him go again and before he could retaliate the villain had forced a splayed hand over his face and shoved him under the surface. At once he felt the lack of air burning his lungs as he choked and spluttered, struggling desperately but unable to break Slade's grip on him. The surface seemed to be getting further and further away as Slade cruelly held him under and although his retaliation was becoming more and more violent, almost animalistic, he knew that he was going to drown…_

Raven's violet eyes widened in disbelief as Robin, completely inanimate under a minute ago, suddenly came back to life, writhing and kicking and clawing at thin air and thrashing his wings. She stood, staring at him, and knew that he was dreaming. Trouble was, he was really freaking out about it. She reached out and caught hold of one of his wrists; immediately, even in his sleep, he grasped hold of her arm with his other hand and dug his fingers in, hurting her. She cried in pain and felt a burning sensation at the back of her mind as she sensed the evil force within him welling up again. She closed her eyes against the blinding pain and saw flashing visions darting at her from the darkness, nothing she could make sense of… Without thinking, without even opening her own eyes, her fingers found his forehead; he was warm, not cold, and she could feel his panicky breathing against the heel of her hand as the sights in her mind became clearer, enabling her to see what he saw…

_Drowning._

_He knew it, even as he struggled. He was drowning. He was going to die._

_Slade was really hurting him, and he was trying to hurt him back, to break his grip, but he wasn't strong enough. He couldn't see anything for the splashing and spraying of water, which was turning crimson even as he thrashed and clawed like the monster he was…_

_His fighting dwindled. His vision blacked, faded, and he lost consciousness…_

…_Lost life…_

Raven gasped and her eyes opened. She stared down at Robin; he was still again, not moving as before. The red sheets were twisted around his lower thighs now, the hand holding her arm no longer digging in but instead slack. But no longer did he look peaceful. His lips were now tinged blue, as though he really had drowned; there was a thin sheen of sweat across his whole body.

Did Robin always dream these things? Or was it an effect of the demon on his mind?...

She watched how still he was, frowning; there was something not right… Her mind raced as she ran her gaze over his still form again. Still… He was _too_ _still_…

_He wasn't breathing._

It took her a second to process it. He had dreamed that Slade had drowned him, and now he had stopped breathing…

Without thinking she slammed her palms onto his bare chest, pushing upwards against his ribcage. He made a sound halfway between a choke and a gasp and she felt his chest heave beneath her fingers. His eyes snapped open behind his mask and he sat up, coughing. The colour flushed back into his face, across his whole body as she knelt beside the bed and placed a hand on his shoulder. His coughing fit subsided and he looked at her, his face expressionless.

"Hello," he said blandly. Raven simply stared at him.

"Your dream…" She shook her head in despair. "Robin, you almost _died_. You stopped breathing…"

He seemed nonplussed.

"Really?..." He looked at his lap and frowned. "I… I _drowned_…"

"Yes… somehow… you really _did_ drown…"

"Yeah…" He put a hand to his chest. "Slade… he…"

"He was holding you under," Raven finished quietly. "I know. In your dream… he _killed_ you…"

"Yeah… but _drowning?_" He sounded confused. "I don't get it. When I was training to be Batman's partner I was taught some basic psychiatry by Alfred, and dreams like that are often conceived by people who have phobias. You know, people afraid of heights dream of being pushed out of airplanes…"

"And people afraid of water dream of drowning," Raven finished with a nod. "Right. But you aren't afraid of water, are you?"

"No." Robin shook his head, then blew his feathery hair out of his face. "No, I've never had any kind of traumatic experiences involving water. I mean, if _anything_, you think it would be about _falling_, because-"

He cut himself off abruptly and looked at his lap again. She knew what he was referring to – his own parents, of course – and didn't push him to complete his sentence.

"Robin, tell me what happened," she said instead. "Can you remember?"

He nodded.

"Yeah… I was in this pool, you know, a real one with tiles and stuff, and I found this red piece of paper floating on the surface, and when I read it, it just said "You're dead" or something…"

"And then what?" Raven pressed.

"Should be obvious. Slade jumped outta nowhere and murdered me. Back in the real world, I would have died if you hadn't slam-dunked me."

"Well, if you want to be crass…"

He shrugged.

"It's true, Raven. I don't know why it happened, why I stopped breathing… Some kind of bodily reaction to the dream, I guess…"

Raven shook her head.

"I don't know either… oh, Robin, what would have happened if I hadn't been in here?"

"I would have died." He looked up at her, his expression unreadable. "You'd be powerless. Slade would have won."

"Robin, don't…"

"You asked." He heaved a sigh and collapsed onto the thick mattress. Raven pulled the red silk sheets back up to his ribcage. He looked briefly at her.

"Thanks…" He stared up at the red hangings above stretching across the four posters of the bed and she saw the silk sheets across his body moving as he shifted beneath them restlessly.

"Robin, do you usually have dreams like that?" Raven asked softly. Again, he looked at her very briefly before answering.

"No. Not… _drowning_…"

Raven frowned at him.

"But… other things?"

"Mmm."

"Like what, Robin?" Raven pressed. "I'll have to tell Marcus about what happened, and any other dreams you've had might imply some kind of pattern."

"They're not important," he said coldly.

"_Yes they are_," Raven pressed. "Come on, Robin, _anything_ that could be remotely connected with that dream you just had now. Even… even _sex_ dreams…"

"I don't have sex dreams." He didn't even look at her this time.

Raven snorted in disbelief.

"Alright, _now_ you're lying. Of course you have sex dreams, Robin; you're a sixteen year old boy."

"Ok, fine, I'm lying." He smiled oddly. "I have sex dreams of the most wildly erotic variety, you know those fantasies where you're naked and covered in maple syrup and you have about ten beautiful women all licking it off you- _Ouch!_"

Raven smacked him over the head with one of his many pillows, interrupting him.

"Alright, very funny," she deadpanned, shoving the pillow back at him. "Robin, be serious; I know you _aren't_ being serious right now."

He sighed heavily.

"Well, apart from my wet and wild sex dreams…"

"You didn't have to imply "wet" there…"

"It goes without saying really, doesn't it?…"

"_Thankyou_, Mr Tactfulness…"

He grinned to himself.

"I love being a guy…"

"One of the many reasons why I can't stick you…"

"Figures. _I'm_ the guy; _I "_stick"_ you_."

"_Robin!_" Raven glared at him, furious, but also confused. Why was he being so blunt? It wasn't like him; for a boy, he was usually pretty tactful about how he phrased stuff.

"Sorry…" His smile dropped to a tight line and he was silent.

"Are you alright?" Raven asked. He nodded, his pale face expressionless once more.

"Dreams, Robin. _Real_ ones."

"They're not important," he said again.

"Robin, they _are!_" Raven snapped, exasperated. He rolled over so that he had his back to her and she could see the roots of his wings protruding from his shoulder blades.

"I don't want to talk about them," he said icily.

"Robin, you have to tell me…" She put a hand on one of his shoulders and he shrugged her off.

"Don't. I don't want to. I don't want you to tell that senator, and I don't want _him_ to tell this Seth Elliott guy."

"Tell him _what?_" Raven pushed. "Robin, it's important you tell me. It might be the thing that saves you."

He was quiet for a while.

"I can't." His voice was barely more than a whisper.

"You _have_ to."

"_No!_" He sat up abruptly and faced her. "I don't _have_ to tell you _anything!_"

"Robin, if we don't get that demon out of you, you'll die," Raven said icily. "Do you want that?"

"No, but… telling you my dreams isn't going to make any difference. I was having them _before_ I was shot with the arrow."

"You'd be surprised by the prophetic abilities of dreams. Robin, _please_… you're my friend and I care about you. I don't want you to be hurt by whatever has possessed you. You have to give us every chance of helping you that you can."

He looked at her for a very long time.

"Rape," he said finally, his voice barely audible. He looked away as he said it.

Raven blinked and stared at him, speechless. She had not expected that as his answer.

"Robin… _Azar_, you mean…?…" She trailed off, horrified. "Robin, you don't mean _that_, do you?..."

He looked back at her slowly, deliberately.

"And if I do?" He didn't smile. "Raven, I know you figured out what happened in Arkham last week; you _all_ did, bar maybe Starfire. I don't know if you just worked it out yourselves or if Bruce told you… It was part of the prophecy."

Raven sat on the edge of the bed again, not taking her eyes from him.

"What, him _raping_ you?"

His expression flickered slightly.

"Not… not quite. I've explained the prophecy to you before… one of the lines was something like "The world will crumble after the sexual tainting of the soul and subsequent death of the Avenger" or something like that…"

"Sexual tainting? But surely…" Raven gazed at him, a slight frown on her pretty face. "Surely it wasn't implying _homosexual rape?_"

He flinched a little as she said it and she placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't touch."

She removed it wordlessly. He sighed.

"No, it wasn't. I couldn't be a virgin."

Raven blinked.

"But you _weren't_. We-"

"_He_ didn't know that. So he took it into his own hands."

"And you dream about it?"

He nodded.

"Most nights, yeah. Sex dreams, huh?"

"_Robin_."

Robin sighed heavily and lay back again.

"It's not always him. Sometimes it's… just a figment of my imagination, but it's always male, it's always horrible and frightening…"

"You always have strange dreams, don't you?"

He actually smiled faintly.

"Yeah, if I'm honest. Prophetic ones about Poison Ivy… at least they seemed prophetic. I dreamt about her right before she came back… And remember when I crashed my R-cycle a few months back? Right before the start of the "Joker Incident", as we dubbed it? And I was in a coma for like, a month or something…? I had one in hospital then, about my parents and the Walk of Fame… I was in a weird state of mind then; I seemed to be able to link everything to Hollywood…"

Raven looked oddly at him and he shrugged.

"…And there've been others, you know? I had one last week sometime about becoming Slade and killing all of you – that was the night I was sick in the bathroom sink and then I yelled at you in the gym; the night before I went off to… _Arkham_ - and then I had this other one I while ago which was pretty much the same thing, but I actually unmasked Slade and when I did he was _me_… and when I was younger I used to have nightmares about the Joker and about my parents and allsorts… I'm not really big into sleeping, as you can probably guess…"

"You're weird, Robin, you know that?" Raven was shaking her head. "Weird, and haunted."

"_Haunted?_" He looked at his wings briefly. "In more ways than one, I guess."

"Haunting and possession isn't the same thing, Robin."

"Mm." He closed his masked eyes, suddenly not feeling so good.

"Robin, you aren't going to fall asleep, are you?" Raven asked, a worried edge to her voice.

"Yeah, I think I'll have another wild sex dream…"

"Robin,_ stop it!_ This is serious. You might have another reflexive drowning action or something…"

"So I can't sleep ever again?" He opened his eyes again. He wiped his forehead as though he felt hot. "Ok, yeah, sleeping isn't one of my biggest past-times, and I don't need all that much of it, but I still need _some_."

"I know, just…" Raven sounded frustrated. "Oh, what are we going to do? If you sleep you might stop breathing again…"

He shrugged and closed his masked eyes again.

"Robin!" She shook him roughly.

"I'm _awake_," he said grouchily. "Quit it!"

She put her hand on his forehead and blinked. He was burning up.

"Don't fall asleep," she told him firmly. "I'm going to get Marcus or one of the other senators."

"No, don't…"

She could see his condition rapidly deteriorating even as she watched him and was confused at why. He had been alright a moment ago; been his usual obnoxious, sarcastic, all-American self. She had seen demonic possession before, but not like this. Robin's body didn't seem to be able to handle it, or was it maybe a different kind of demon to the ones usually found feasting on human souls? Either way, he was in a bad way, first with the overwhelming evil she could sense in him, then the drowning-in-his-sleep-out-of-water, and now some kind of fever. She didn't even want to think about it, but she knew that if the demon – or whatever was possessing him – wasn't exorcised from him soon, Robin would die.

"Robin, please stay awake," Raven pleaded, feeling his wrist for a pulse. "Just for a few minutes more so I can get Marcus or Jonathon…"

He didn't protest this time, but instead put one of his own hands to his hot forehead, pushing his too-long sticky fringe from his eyes.

"Raven… I really don't feel so good…"

"I know…" Raven bit her lip. In the state he was in, she didn't want to leave him on his own. But she knew she couldn't help him by herself. She needed Marcus, Jonathon, her own mother…

_I wish Seth was here in Azarath right now_…

"Robin, I'll be back as soon as I can, I promise…"

She got up and started to leave.

"Raven! Don't go!" She heard him cry after her. She turned back to him and saw him sitting up slightly, his hand outstretched after her. His masked eyes were wide and his face, now far from the white it had been before, was flushed with colour, advertising the fever he seemed to have contracted within the past two minutes.

He closed his eyes again and his hand found its way back to his sweaty forehead.

"I can taste blood," he said, almost matter-of-factly. Raven cautiously went back to his side, thinking maybe the fever was making him deluded. He looked at her.

"I'm going to be sick," he told her breathlessly. He moaned slightly and she pulled back his covers.

"Alright," she said, feeling as though she herself was in a trance. She offered him her hand and he took it; she could feel how sticky with sweat his fingers were as she helped him up and led him across the soft-carpeted room. She pushed open the bathroom door and he fled for the huge marble sink. She watched his wings open as he was violently sick into the sink, then went to his side.

"You alright?" She asked softly, placing a hand on his back.

"I feel like I'm _dying_…" he muttered, spitting into the sink.

_You are_.

"You're going to be fine," Raven assured him.

_As long as the demon doesn't kill you before we can get it out of you._

"Sure doesn't feel like it…"

She removed her hand as he bent more deeply over the sink and threw up again.

"I'm going to die, aren't I?" He said breathlessly as he came up again.

"No," Raven said firmly. "I'm sure you feel terrible, but Seth will be able to help you; _all_ of the senate will. Marcus and Jonathon and my mother… they'll _save_ you, Robin, I _promise_."

He threw up some more and she winced. He probably didn't believe her, not right now when he was chucking up his guts and…

She saw a glimpse of red in the sink and looked wildly up at him. He seemed to be ok for now and she pushed him aside. A lot of it had drained but she could see that the majority of what he was throwing up was… _blood_…

She looked at him again, horrified. He had acquired a towel and was wiping his mouth on it. She could see smears of crimson on that too.

"Told you I could taste blood," he murmured. He sighed as Raven silently filled a crystal glass with water and handed it to him. He washed out his mouth then drained the rest.

"I feel awful," he muttered. He shivered a little, but judging by the colour still in his face, he was still running a fever.

"You aren't well, Robin. Of course you feel awful."

He backcombed his hair roughly and handed her back the glass. She took it and gestured with it towards the tap.

"Do you want another…"

She trailed off as he found the sink once and was sick all over again. This time she could here him actually choking up the blood and spitting it out and she winced. This was far more than him eating something that hadn't agreed with him. She didn't know why he was throwing up blood along with the contents of his stomach, but she knew it wasn't a good thing.

"Raven… I want you to leave…"

She blinked.

"To get Marcus?" She inquired. "No, I'm not going until you're finished-"

"No," he interrupted. He spat another mouthful of blood into the sink. "No… I want you to go… please, _leave_…"

"But Robin… _why?_" Raven was shocked.

His wings fluttered slightly and he looked up at her. There was a trickle of crimson liquid down his chin from his mouth and his masked eyes were narrowed as he looked at her.

"Because I want to hurt you," he reasoned coldly.

She blinked.

"Robin, what do you-"

"Raven, _go_."

She would not recognize it as a desperate plea, but he could feel something savage overriding his senses. Something evil, something demonic… For the first time his wings truly felt part of him, he could feel the power and the potential in them as though they had always been there, as though he had always been this way. He didn't like Raven standing there and he wanted to hurt her, to kill her even… But there was still enough of Robin left in him to tell her to get out before he turned on her.

Raven took one look at him and knew he meant it. But she also knew that it was not his own feeling and he was instead being manipulated by whatever was inside him. She had to help him fight it off, but couldn't do it alone, and knew that if he felt threatened by her presence it would best if she complied to his wish and left. Provoking him in this savage state was not a brilliant idea.

"Alright," she said softly. "I'll leave…"

_And get Marcus and Jonathon…_

She took one final look at him and left; as she did so she heard him throw up into the sink once again.

_Poor Robin_…

He was a pain in the butt sometimes, true, but he didn't ask for these things. Yet trouble just seemed to seek him out; this past couple of months in particular he had been having a hard time of it, first with Poison Ivy, then the whole "Joker Incident", and then… then Slade… and now _this_…

She found Marcus Vandiver's room as quickly as possible and knocked on his door. He responded almost immediately, still fully-clothed. He was wearing small square reading glasses and removed them as he saw her standing there.

"Lady Raven? Is there a problem?" He inquired, frowning.

"It's Robin," Raven said quickly. "He's throwing up blood and he told me to get out because he wanted to hurt me. You have to come and help him. He's burning up, running some kind of fever, and before that he had a dream about being drowned and he stopped breathing. He's in a bad way, Marcus."

Marcus simply nodded.

"Alright, I'll go to him. You shouldn't have been in his room, but it's just as well you were."

The Vice-Head senator swept past her and strode down the corridor towards the right wing staircase.

"Go and wake Jonathon, and get Michael, James, Lawrence and Zachariah," he said over his shoulder. "If the demon is trying to take over him we may need some back-up."

Raven nodded. It made sense. Jonathon and Marcus were powerful in all aspects of Azarathian magic. James Sinclair and Zachariah Warrix were known as Spellcasters, focusing on offensive types of magic used for fighting such as barriers and telepathy, whereas Michael Shelley and Lawrence Westten were Spellbinders, using magic of a defensive variety such as bodylocks and forcefields. The female senators controlled certain elements and used books and potions instead of inner energy. Her mother Arella was like Robin; human and powerless.

But all of them knew how to kill.

She could only hope they wouldn't have to…

* * *

And I will say it again; Elvis has _left_ the building! 

Let us replace the word "Elvis" with the words "plotless babbling" and see how we go from there… Yes, we have entered what you might call… not the "Twilight Zone"… Okay, um… "The Land of Major Storylines!". Whoo-hoo! Yes, there are to be little more filler parts, like Robin watching TV, or Beast Boy bitch-slapping said Boy Wonder out of jealousy… :)

Ah, demonic possession; _what_ a plot device. I am most certainly not the first person to use it, and I will most certainly not be the last. I do, however, hope you were not bored by it.

What exactly is going on? All will be revealed… whenever I update. You want me to update, you gotta review. I even accept smiley faces as reviews… I collect them, you see. Some people collect stamps, other people collect butterfly corpses and pin them to their walls, for some odd reason…

I collect reviews.

More fun next time, dudes and dudettes! Slade's back for a miniscule amount of time, and then…

Yes, I wrote a BRAND NEW CHAPTER NOBODY HAS **EVER** READ! Especially for you guys! All my friends who read the illustrated carbon copy of this last year have **NOT** read this new chapter, so yay for you! It has involved a lot of construction to the surrounding text, but I think it will be worth it…

Stuff happens in _that_ too.

'Til next time, my duckies!

- RobinRocks xXx


	15. Revelations

Hello, it's me again… You can start waving "Go, RobinRocks, GO!" banners any time now…

Um, well, yes, few things today. First of all, I have been asked a few times in reviews for various fics including _Protégé Moi_, _Small Print _and _Black Magic_ itself if… I am a Filipino.

Um, no, I am _not_ a Filipino. I am a Brit, just like Mad Mod and Alfred Pennyworth. Why does everyone keep asking me that?

Secondly, I had a request from Utopia… to shorten my author notes. And lengthen the chapters. Okay, well, in answer to the first… I guess I _do_ mouth off quite a bit. I will try to keep this short. However… make chapters _longer? These_ chapters are chopped up bits of the _original_ chapters of the original _Black Magic_. _Black Magic_, when I first wrote it, had only _eleven_ chapters. We are on chapter _fifteen_ in this version and aren't even halfway through. _Black Magic_ had very _very_ **_VERY_** long chapters indeed… I don't want to bombard people and so that is why I cut them up into lots of smaller chapters…

Okay, so, to keep it minimalistic; **BIG** thankyou to all who reviewed – Narroch06, Phoenix Skyborne, Quinn and His Quill, YamiTai, Rocky-White Wolf of Curses, Daybreak25 and Utopia.

_This_ "chapter" is very short; but I posted up the next one too…

…_and_ it's a brand new, never-been-read-by-_anyone_, super-shiny chapter I wrote especially for the fanfiction site version of _Black Magic_.

Can I get another "Amen"?

Revelations

"_Wings!_"

Slade couldn't help but laugh. It was so stupid, he had to. The boy was supposed to be _dead_…

"You're serious?" He looked up at the seer, who was leaning on her staff, seemingly bored.

"That's what I said." She stared icily at him. "Really, I don't know why you're laughing. This is no joke, boy."

"Right. _Wings_."

"So, the only _normal_ member of the team… suddenly became as much of a freak as the rest of them…"

"If you prefer to put it that way, yes."

"Right." Slade pressed his fingertips together. "That helps us _how?_"

"The Batman's child is in a very bad way," the seer told him coolly. "He's going to die if he isn't helped soon. Which brings us to the next bit of news I have for you."

Slade sat up in his chair, interested.

"The key?"

The seer shook her head.

"I'm afraid not."

Slade sank again like a bored teenager in maths class.

"Sit up straight, boy!" The seer snapped. He grudgingly obeyed, wondering why even as he did so. Why was she able to make him do whatever she wanted without question? It still creeped him out.

"Now, I have no information on the key as of yet," she said coldly. "But if you were planning on creating any havoc in Jump City or Gotham City, now is the right time to do it."

"Why now?"

"The Azarathian, Raven, has taken the Avenger and the other Teen Titans to her homeworld of Azarath to seek out help from the senate council," the seer explained. "They will be gone for a few days, I should imagine, and have meanwhile left a few other teenaged superheroes in their wake to take their place while they are absent. These other superheroes are skilled but are not used to working together as a team and therefore will be easy to dispose of if you see fit."

"And Gotham City?"

"The Batman is absent as well," the seer went on. "Since your break-in to Arkham Asylum last week he has had his hands full with catching the escaped criminals and putting them back. At the moment he is in Metropolis working with the Justice League to catch some of the villains who fled there."

Slade shrugged his broad shoulders.

"I might, if I'm bored." He sighed. A few months ago all he had done was cause trouble for the Teen Titans by sending Cinderblock and Plasmus out on raids just for the hell of it, but recently he had gotten more ambitious – what with the prophecy and the whole-trying-to-take-over-the-world thing and corrupting the likes of Robin and Terra – and smashing up malls just didn't have the same edge anymore. He was almost disappointed to learn that the Titans had done a disappearing act.

The seer shrugged too.

"Well, suit yourself."

She turned to leave. Her visits were becoming more frequent, but shorter each time. Not that he minded; he didn't like her all that much anyway. He still found it – and _her_ – odd, however.

"I'll return with more news when I receive another revelation. For now, I bid thee goodnight, my boy…"

She didn't wait for him to reply and simply left.

He sat back in the dark, silent.

Maybe it was time he revised his opinion of her. He didn't dislike her, he decided.

He _loathed_ her…

* * *

Whoop!

Well, let Slade sulk…

We have far more important matters to attend to…


	16. Language of the Soul

Hopefully this will make you all happy.

Why? _Because_…

One: It's long.

Two: Stuff (of the demonic-possession variety) happens.

And…

Three: It's brand new.

Really and truly. Okay, in context; when I first got the idea for _Black Magic_, I had only seen Seasons One and Two (hence the setting of the fic in Season Two and the heavy involvement of Terra); when I finally got around to **_writing_** _Black Magic_ last year, I had added to this arsenal the viewing of Season Three.

Season Four was a distant British dream; because we are about a year behind. Season Five? You kidding? We'll probably get that around Christmas… So, having not seen Season Four, my knowledge of Raven's background was limited. I knew she was Trigon's daughter, blahblahblah, because I had read the 80s version, _The Terror of Trigon_. But the _show's_ version was nothing to me, having not seen even a _scrap_ of animation from it. Hence, little involvement of Raven's destiny in _Black Magic_, despite it being centred around an Azarathian prophecy.

But _now_…? I am working back into the whole storyline and putting in stuff that would be in the future (set in Season _Two_, remember?) in this timeline. References to _The End_ and such… It's hard work, but it fits good…

The below; a whim. But I like it.

I hope you do too.

Language of the Soul

"Raven, _please?_"

"You can't see him, Starfire."

The tone of Raven's response was jaded. The alien girl was really trying her patience. They were supposed to be meditating in one of the Soul Chambers (_who_ knew where Cyborg and Beast Boy were), but now Starfire – who had grown tired of muttering "Azarath Metrion Zinthos" over and over again – was consistently interrupting, begging Raven to take her to see Robin.

Raven both pitied and envied her. She clearly did not understand the direness of Robin's condition. She did not understand that he would very likely die. So Raven pitied her ignorance, yet envied it also. How she wished she could be so care-free. So embracing of _hope_.

But as the daughter of _Trigon_, such things were denied her. Robin's destiny was not the _only_ Azarathian prophecy which hung forebodingly over her head…

"But Raven, he will be so lonely," Starfire begged. "Please take me to see him. Just for a minute. _Please_…"

Raven's eyes opened this time, and she turned to look at her friend.

The alien girl was wearing a green silk dress that matched her emerald eyes, a heavy gold bracelet on one wrist and a gold torque on the other upper arm. Her long red hair, usually free down her back, was pulled back into a high ponytail with a band of beaten platinum. Starfire simply delighted in the clothes in her room's wardrobe and had tried every single article of clothing on, forcing Raven to be a reluctant spectator of her "fashion show". It had been "X'hal _this!_" and "X'hal _that!_" as she had torn everything out and tried it all against herself and mixed and matched jewellery and accessories… Raven had gotten quite exhausted just _watching_ her. Starfire had _way_ too much energy; were all Tamaraneans so amped up, or was Starfire overwhelmingly perky even by _their_ standards?

"Starfire, please…" The telekinetic girl sighed heavily. "I know this is difficult for you to understand, but… Robin is… he's not, uh…" She didn't know quite how to put it. "He's possessed, Starfire. By a demon. And it's killing him from the inside out."

There. Blunt and simple.

Starfire blinked.

"_Killing_ _him?_" She repeated weakly.

Raven debated rephrasing it to ease her fright. But that would be lying. Yes, Robin _was_ dying. That horrible thing would devour him, consume his soul, eat its way right out of him, unless the _Senate_ got it out of him first.

Because he had sure given them hell last night, that was certain. It hadn't been his fault, of course; it had been the possession. But he certainly hadn't been all that cooperative when Marcus and Jonathon had attempted to get near him to see if he was alright. It had taken the two of them to physically pin him down, while James Sinclair and Zachariah Warrix had been on hand with barrier spells in case the need arose for him to be caged. He had calmed down eventually and Marcus had been able to establish that the demon was getting a stronger grip on him and was therefore vying for possession of his consciousness. Jonathon and Marcus himself had eventually managed to help him fight it off and keep it there, but it had taken hours for him to be completely normal again.

Well. _Normal_.

He had been sick a lot too, and Marcus had been concerned by the fact he was throwing up blood. All in all, none of the senators seemed to have come across a case of demonic possession quite like Robin's; the expressions of the six male senators with her last night in answer to Robin's plight – Marcus, Jonathon, Michael, Zachariah, James and Lawrence – had told her that. Marcus was distressed, Jonathon confused and slightly jumpy about new developments, the others certainly unable to offer any help.

All hope, she knew, relied on Seth Elliott.

She had been hoping he would arrive today. It wasn't like he had to catch a plane across dimensions. All he had to do was open a portal as she had done. She realised that he must have been in the middle of something when Marcus had called him up and requested his presence in Azarath. She wasn't exactly sure what the Head Senator actually _did_, but Jonathon, admittedly, was right – Seth was very rarely actually _here_. She figured it must be important for him to spend so much time away, and it had been that way ever since she could remember, Seth's usual absence. She'd met him plenty of times, but not extensively. She didn't know him the way she knew Marcus Vandiver, Jonathon Vaughan, or any of the other senators.

But Seth still wasn't here, and she was starting to worry. What if he didn't turn up in time?... And even if he _did_, what if he couldn't help Robin after all?...

So she did not lie. She told Starfire the truth.

Tears welled in the Tamaranean girl's emerald eyes.

"_Raven_," she whispered brokenly. "Raven, please, he cannot die… _X'hal, he must not die!_"

"Then you mustn't see him," Raven replied soothingly. "He has to be kept alone, in solitary confinement. It's his only hope, Starfire; you _have_ to understand that. Whether he is "lonely" or not doesn't enter into it… I am sure he would like your company very much, even if only for a single minute, but you _mustn't_. It will only help to worsen his condition."

"But _why?_" Starfire asked, her voice small and quavering.

Sighing again, Raven quickly explained about the "policies" of the so-called "Indulgence Demon". What they did, what they fed on, what they could do to a mortal body such as Robin's. Starfire's eyes widened in horror.

"…And he likes you very much, Starfire," Raven finished wearily. "_Likes_ you. And your "company" will not help him at all. So keep _away_ from him, understand? If you want to help him, stay away from him."

Starfire nodded mutely, terrified for him. She resolutely made up her mind to stay as far away from him as possible. If she saw him, she would leave immediately. Flee him if necessary.

"Should I perhaps return to Earth?" She asked, clasping her hands together and gazing intently at her friend. "Would that be far enough away from him? I do not wish to be responsible for causing him any further injury."

Raven frowned.

"Uh… I don't think precautions of _that_ measure will be necessary, Starfire." She nodded curtly. "But yes, just stay away from him."

"But _you_ may see him, yes?" Starfire's imploring gaze settled on Raven once more.

"I…" Raven regained her composure and nodded again. "Of course. I am Arella's daughter. I _brought_ him here. Of course I can see him."

Starfire's smile returned to her pretty face.

"Then will you go to see him _for_ me?" She pleaded. "Will you tell him that I hope he gets better soon, and that I have taken measures to distance myself from him to spare him further ill?"

"Well—" Raven started.

"And if you cannot even do _that_," Starfire interrupted, not hearing Raven anyway, "will you at least _check_ on him for me? Will you see how he is? If he is getting better?" She clasped her hands again in a sign of pleading. "_Please_, Raven," she begged desperately. "_Please!_"

Studying her for a second or two – a perfect picture of pretty patheticness – Raven caved in and sighed.

"Okay, okay," she murmured, admitting defeat. "I'll go and check on him…"

Starfire beamed.

"Thankyou, Raven."

Raven managed a weak smile and rose.

"Just stay here," she told her friend. "I'll be back in a minute…"

Starfire nodded and immediately – obediently – dipped her head again, closing her eyes and beginning the mantra.

"_Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos_…"

In conjunction with her, Raven summoned her Soul Self and transcended the physical plane of the Soul Chamber, her mind layering within it as she began to search for Robin's aura—

"…_Of course I can see him…"_

Lying to Starfire always made her feel _so_ guilty.

* * *

"One more time, Robert?"

_No no no no **no**…_

Robin sighed, drawing the heaving, jaded breath right from the very core of his being; he was _that_ sick of it.

"Alright," he agreed wearily. "And it's _Robin_."

The Azarathian priestess to his left frowned at him.

"The Vice-Head Senator is quite adamant that it is _Robert_," she replied, her voice calm and soft.

_The Vice-Head Senator is an **idiot**…_

"I think I know my own name," Robin snapped. "It's always had "Batman and…" tagged onto the front it, hasn't it?"

The priestess to his right took his palm between her own soft hands and pressed it gently.

"No anger, Robin," she whispered. "_No anger…_" She lifted her hands from his and then took hold of it again, rubbing a circle on his palm with her thumb. "Breathe deeply and slowly. _Feel_ the air's journey into your lungs and then back out. And remember; breathe _in_ with the _good_ – _out_ with the _bad_. _In with the good – out with the bad_…"

Sighing inwardly this time, the reluctant Boy Wonder resigned to it. He folded his legs beneath him correctly, shifting to get comfortable, and held out his hands. The priestesses on either side of him took them, holding them firmly, and he bowed his head and tried to clear his mind.

He had found it extremely difficult at first, this meditating thing. His mind was always so busy – deducing, working things out without him really thinking about them, concocting little plans and attack strategies and new _katas_ to try out – that he had been unable to clear it on his first few tries. It had taken the breathing exercises – _yoga_; the _shame_ of it… – to help him focus on… well, nothing. By thinking about breathing and nothing else, he had accomplished blanking out his mind.

Still, it was extremely boring. He _hated_ it; and these stupid priestesses had been assigned to stay with him and help him to do it all day. The Senate had come to the conclusion that Robin could not be corrupted by the demon within him if he was in a state of transcendation. And the longer and deeper he was under, the better.

Trouble was… he was _not_ Raven. He hadn't been brought up doing it. He was a detective; his mind was always buzzing with thoughts and ideas. It was difficult for him to; a.) reach a state of mindlessness; and b.) stay there. He would be getting into the swing of it and then he would think "Hey, I'm not doing too bad here!" and then of course the thought would throw him out of balance and he'd be sent crashing back down to Earth. Or Azarath. Wherever.

And then those irritating priestesses would tut and call him "silly" to his face and giggle; and would mutter in Azarathian to each other when they thought he wasn't listening. He blazed with hatred for them and struggled to control it; hatred was so _not_ the thing to be feeling right about now, not with this… _thing_ lurking inside him.

Which was the only reason he forced himself not to think about Slade and what he'd like to do to him.

He'd indulged in a brief, vindictive little fantasy which involved his heavy steel-soled boots and Slade's genitals, but one of the priestesses had read his mind when she saw him smirking and had told him off so piously he'd seriously thought she was going to turn him over on her knee and spank him; and _not_ in the kinky way.

So he was grouchy now; because of that – _them_ – and the fact that it was cold down here and that he was hungry and he was near-freezing because he was wearing a long robe of dark crimson velvet with slits for his wings, the large hood up and shadowing his face in the same fashion as Raven's indigo one, and wore nothing underneath it, not even underwear or socks, because apparently undergarments were banned down here; so he was also cursing whoever had come up with that rule, because he was literally _freezing his ass off…_

Still, he obeyed the orders of the priestesses and dutifully attempted to blank out his mind. He grasped for the oblivion of nothingness that he knew was there, his brow furrowing in concentration. He locked his body rigid so that he could not shiver with how cold it was and gradually the chants of the priestesses became more and more distant and white flooded into his mind and then he was _there_, floating in _nothing_—

He was _there_, senseless, and yet his senses seemed more acute than ever before. He saw nothing but white – but it was a white that he could draw sudden meaning from, understanding and purpose. He heard silence, tainted with the faultless beating of his own heart and the soft rhythm of his breath. He spoke not a word, and yet, somehow, words of languages he didn't even know formed themselves on his tongue. Azarathian. Sanskrit, the language of the ancient Chakra System. Hebrew. Latin. The Celtic languages, age-old Gaelic and Welsh. His mouth did not form them but they echoed in the silence of his mind; the jargon, somehow, of the state he had reached. He felt nothing, yet his entire body buzzed and prickled with the energy that was somehow within him.

He was there.

Gone.

Under.

—

Raven recalled her Soul Self back within her body, stepping back into the shadow of the doorway to the meditation chamber. Her hood up, she wrapped her white cloak around her body, hiding her similarly snow-hued leotard from view. Peering around the edge of the stone doorway to the chamber, she saw the priestesses on either side of the small figure swamped in crimson velvet robes, black leathery wings folded pristinely; the three of them on the cold stone floor. The priestesses knelt while the winged third sat cross-legged, hands clasped in theirs.

She knew the third to be Robin (_of course_) and watched the charade for a while; astounded when she had a quick search of his mind and saw, with his senses, how deeply under he was. She had not thought it possible for, of _all_ people, _Robin_ to force his busy mind into such a state of emptiness, and so quickly. He had never meditated before, and had only been at it for that morning.

It almost made her… _jealous_ of how quickly he had picked it up.

Still, from here, and with him not in a normal state of mind, she could not properly assess "how he was". She needed to get nearer, and to talk to him properly, without those stupid priestesses leaning over her shoulder tutting.

She too _hated_ those priestesses. She was certain that the main employment requirement was being sickeningly goodie-goodie; following this, the ability to look good in unflattering shapeless white robes.

But _that_ was where being Arella Roth's daughter came in handy. She may have been Trigon's daughter – the child born of a terrible prophecy – but she was treated like a princess, perhaps because everyone else, no matter how they acted, were secretly afraid of her and her hidden power. They stood back and made way if she walked past; they bowed to her; she was granted access to anywhere and everywhere she wanted to go.

She could _dismiss_ people if she so wanted.

Stepping out into the doorway, Raven pulled her cloak tighter around her – her foreboding appearance was always guaranteed to freak those priestesses out – and cleared her throat. They both looked up and turned simultaneously, their eyes wide.

"Oh!" The first exclaimed, blinking.

"Lady Raven!" The other added, equally surprised.

Raven approached them slowly, smiling slightly as she saw them seem to shrink back from her a little. Oh yes; all of Azarath knew of her destiny, even if her friends did not. Well, there would time enough for that; but first, the matter at hand—

"Marcus wishes to see you," she said, her voice icy. She stopped short of them, her cloak waving around her feet.

The priestesses exchanged glances; still holding Robin's hands, while he stayed under, utterly oblivious of the exchange that was going on behind him, indeed even of Raven's entrance.

"He wants to see you _now_," Raven elaborated irritably. "It's about the meditation you are doing with the Avenger. You must depart immediately, by order of the Azarathian Senate."

The two priestesses nodded and let go of Robin's hands; they got to their feet and left immediately, their long robes flowing as they swept past Raven. She smirked after their retreating backs and turned her head to look Robin, slamming the door shut behind the priestesses with her powers.

He had not moved at all.

Raven took a deep breath and strode over to him, making no effort to be silent. Still he did not acknowledge her presence. She knelt behind him, slipping her hands over his velvet-clothed shoulders; she squeezed him, the arch between her thumb and first finger fitting around the roots of his wings, but still he did not move. She could hear his long deep breaths, slow and calm and sedated; his hands now rested in his lap and his head was bowed.

At least he _was_ breathing…

"Robin." Raven said his name softly, shaking him slightly. He did not respond to her, and so she shook him again, harder. "_Robin!_"

Nothing.

Beginning to become worried – in retrospection of his drowning-in-his-sleep trick the previous night – she took a deep breath and slipped her hood down, engaging her Soul Self again; her eyes glowed white and the ebony bird-shaped spectre rose from her solid body, spreading its wings as it arched above her.

And then, as though drawn to him by a magnetic force, it soared downwards with ineffable speed straight into Robin's body; spreading its influence, taking over his mind and his senses, allowing Raven – her consciousness within that out-of-body apparition – to see what he saw, to feel what he felt, to hear what he heard—

_She took a deep gasping breath, finding herself within a body that was not her own. Even in this dream-like stance that was in no way physical, she could **feel** that the body she was in was not her own. She had invaded the mind and body of another, and could somehow consciously **feel** it._

_Somehow she was in his mind… and Robin was out of it. She wasn't sure what surrounded her, but it was no longer the vast empty space of Robin's previous meditative state. She opened her eyes within his mind and saw…_

…_**fire**…_

_A world that had perhaps once been; a charred skeleton remained, ablaze, the flames blowing in a violent wind that seemed to come from nowhere. Ash and brimstone and slithers of blazing-hot metal and stone were scattered in the air, smoke rose in pillars, choking the heavens, and the sky above was blacker than any night she had ever seen._

_She seemed to have no physical body of her own within here. She **was** Robin's mind, not within it. He was pushed aside by her stronger transphysical presence, giving her control over his consciousness. So she saw the picture in his mind, but did not do so in any physical way. She was not standing in the **midst** of the fire; she was simply seeing it as it was, from somewhere beyond the plane of it. _

_The sea of fire shifted; seemed to move, merge… She gasped again; but then was it really **her** that was gasping? She did not need to breathe. Was it **Robin** instead; his physical body that she could consciously feel?_

_And she was plunged into sudden darkness, the fire seeming to be torn upwards into the black-as-black sky out of sight._

_What was happening to him? What was this in his mind; instead of the pureness of meditation that should have been reached? The state that she had sensed only a few minutes before; what had happened? How had it become… this? Another dream, it seemed… _

_Images stirred now, violent, ever-moving and changing, as though he was having a seizure. She felt a sudden burning rising up from within him – coming from the very depths of his soul; or whatever was feasting on it – a deep, terrible evil—_

_The very same that she had felt within him before._

_Another image. This one was clearer, longer; she found herself – or her Soul Self, at least – thrown into it. She saw it clear as day, as though she could reach out and touch it; it was all around it, she was there, within it, yet beyond it, away and out of it._

_She saw Robin now, manifested within his own mind; so **was** this a dream? Yes, she saw him, and she saw—_

_Herself._

_She was shocked, to say the least. Robin was… dreaming about **her?** After all that last night, when he had told her of his nightmares of rape? But—_

_She saw him. Herself. They sat on the ground, side by side; the ground of somewhere grassy. There seemed to be no actual place where they were; no actual specific location. They just sat there, Raven cross-legged and plaiting a long thin rope of grass, Robin with his back to her, his knees brought up to his chest, his face buried in them; and his wings folded._

_She watched as her dream-counterpart finished her chain and tied the ends to make a circle of plaited grass, which she placed around the dream-Robin's brow like a crown. He smiled at her touch and turned to face her (the dream-Raven, anyway)._

_And then she watched as his body coiled and he pounced heavily on the other Raven, knocking her onto her back. She watched him wriggling on top of her dream-counterpart for a few moments, she herself powerless to do anything to stop him; his wings jerked and flapped and she saw… **herself** seemingly struggling underneath him._

_He got his fingers into the material of her leotard and **ripped** it right down the middle, baring her skin underneath, and then tore her underwear to shreds as well and shoved her legs wide apart, holding them that way – ready for him – while he unbuckled his belt with his free hand pulled down his pants and boxers._

_And then he lifted her hips and thrust himself all the way into her—_

_Raven herself – her true Soul Self – felt a sudden burning, blinding agony… **somewhere**… She had no physical body in Robin's mind, and so did not know how she could feel such pain, but it was there; and it got worse and worse, seeming to **scream** across her eyes and **blaze** over the tiny jewel on her ashma chakra as she watched the scene before her. _

_As she watched him thrust his hips in and out between the other Raven's parted legs—_

_The scene collapsed. Was swallowed up into another perpetual oblivion. A few moments of nothing, and then—_

_She was somewhere else. A destroyed, broken place; filthy, dark, damp, and old…_

_She had never been here. Neither had Robin; so she did not know he had managed to conjure it in his mind. But she knew where she was. Where **he** was. **Where** **they** **were**. _

_The Church of Prophecy._

_It was, in reality, buried many hundreds of feet deep within the earth… right below the old Public Library of Jump City. Somewhere, in reality, the prophecy written just over sixteen years ago, at the time of her birth – telling of her terrible destiny – was hidden there. Along with many hundreds of **other** prophecies, Azarathian or otherwise. Spiritual guardians were assigned to protect all the prophecies within its walls. She had never been there; but had heard of it, read of it, been told of it. She did not ever **wish** to go there, either._

_This much, she knew, was true._

_How did **Robin** know of it at all, much less be able to manifest it (perfect to the slightest detail) in his mind? And yet there it was before her; the walls stretched all around, the ceiling stood above, the floor beneath… and all across them – each of the six stone surfaces – were the crimson runes she recognised._

_The Warning._

_Of **him**. _

_They had appeared – outside of this terrible dream-place – on her bare skin before; perhaps once or twice, when she had been younger. Whenever her father's influence seemed to become stronger. Well, that was what it was; a warning._

_Very few knew of them. Herself. Her mother, Arella. The Azarathian Senate. No-one else; least of all her team-mates._

_**Why **and** how** were they in **Robin's** mind?_

_She looked around again; and found **herself** again. Sitting on what appeared to be a crumbling stone throne at the far end of the "Warning room". The dream-Raven's head was bowed; her hands gripped the arms of the stone chair; her violet hair was long, almost to her waist; she wore a long tight sleeveless crimson gown of silk, and all up her bare arms glowed the Warning runes._

_Her eyes fell the on the stomach of her dream-counterpart. It was swollen by an extreme term of pregnancy, her size enhanced only more so by her dress. She looked up and the real Raven seemed to feel as though her eyes met with her other self's; only the dream-manifestation had double the amount of eyes **she** had. Four horrible ruby slits._

_The Mark of Scath was superimposed over the jewel on her ashma chakra._

_Was this… a **vision?**_

_At the foot of the throne was sprawled Robin, still with his wings. He did not have that same assertiveness about him this time around, however. He was in his original red, yellow and green uniform, but it was torn largely in places, with only a few parts of it not actually hanging off his body; there was a whole shoulder and sleeve of it missing, his badge was torn off, he no longer wore his belt, the edge of his cape was ragged and both the legs of his pants were ripped so badly they resembled shorts more so than the former description she had put to them._

_His wrists were lashed together and there was a collar around his neck; there was a chain attached to it, fastened to an iron rung in the floor. He had no way of escaping but for the moment was not trying; he was asleep, sprawled out on the cold stone floor, his wings stretched out to their fullest extent._

_She felt so sorry for him she wished to go to him, to summon her powers and snap the chain at his neck; she did not understand why her dream-counterpart did not do so in her stead. But again she was powerless to do anything._

_The image shifted again, the runes seeming to linger far longer than anything else of the scene._

_She found herself in front of what appeared to be a pool of… blood._

_And visible within it, sinking beneath the surface even as she watched, was the green-gloved hand that she knew so well. The long fingers were contorted, gripping at thin air as it went under with, presumably, the rest of him._

_She could not grab his hand and pull him out._

_He went under and darkness came a third time._

_And there, blazing scarlet against the black backdrop of Robin's mind; four eyes and above them the Mark of Scath._

_She somehow **screamed** with the agony of it; again she felt the pain across her forehead and eyes as though those articles were manifested on her own skin—_

She fled his body, her Soul Self bursting from him back into her. In an instant she felt the solidness of her own body and knelt there behind Robin – between his wings – for a few moments more, her eyes squeezed shut, gasping for breath.

She felt Robin quivering where she had her hands on her shoulders still. Heard him pant and gasp and let out little groans.

Opening her eyes, Raven moved around in front of him and looked at him, her head to one side.

He was still sitting cross-legged with his head bowed, but he shook and his chest heaved with the effort of breathing and his hands were stiff, his fingers jerking as though again he was having some kind of seizure.

Raven reached out and put her hands under his chin, tilting his shadowed face up so that she could see him.

Her heart stopped.

From beneath the shadow that the hood of his robe cast on his face she was met with the same sight she had just fled from.

He. Had. **Four**. Eyes… Four despicable, horrific slants blazing in his pale face, right in place of his unmistakeable black and white mask. **Her** eyes.

But worse still…

The Mark of Scath was smouldering on his forehead.

Raven felt physically sick as her gaze locked on that loathsome "S", glowing scarlet within the shadow of his hood. This wasn't right; why did _Robin_ have the mark – _her_ mark; _Trigon's_ mark – on his forehead? Why did he have the eyes? Why could he not hear or see her? Why was his mind filled with such horrific, acute – and yet meaningless – images?

She desperately tore down his hood, panicking. What did it mean? If the marks had appeared on _her_, it would be a warning of the _End_. But on _Robin? _On a _human boy? _And on one who had no connection to any of this except for his friendship with _her?_

Even with the shadow on his face relinquished, her horror did not subside so easily. The mark still burned on the centre of his forehead, and his eyes… His original pair blazed blood-red through his mask, which was still in place on his face.

And above it another two resided, slightly smaller and thinner; from beneath them trickled small streams of blood, evidence of where they had broken his skin to manifest themselves there.

He suddenly came back to life, opening his wings out and reaching for her, grasping the front of her cloak. He pulled on her, using her as an anchor to haul himself to his knees. He bent over when he was up, and his wide sleeves slipped back; she very nearly screamed when she saw the crimson Warning marks stretching all up his forearms and beyond, his upper arms hidden by the thick velvet of his robe. She looked at his wings again and saw them glowing there too, all up the frames of them. Terrified, she tried to get away from him by sudden instinct, but he held onto her and wouldn't let her go.

So she simply knelt there, frozen and unsure of what to do; and he looked up again and she could practically read his twisted expression, what it was saying;

_What have you **done** to me? **Why** did you do this to me? **How** did you do this to me? Why aren't you **helping** me?_

She was spared having to attempt anything of the sort as the door to the chamber suddenly smashed open in a blaze of age-old power and Marcus Vandiver made a supremely-angry entrance, fury positively _radiating_ from his body.

"_Raven Roth!_" He stormed, near spitting blood. "What is the meaning of this? I have just had the two priestesses of Azar I assigned _myself_ to teach the Avenger meditation come to me practically tripping over themselves, telling me that _you_ told them that _I_ wanted to see them!"

Speechless and wide-eyed, Raven looked up at him for a second or two, then looked down at Robin again, horror plain on her features.

"_Raven!_" Marcus near-screamed. "Away from him! _Away from him this instant!_"

When she did not move – only shook in her frozen state, her mouth open as though she wanted to say something but could not find the words – he really lost his temper and was at her side in less than three seconds. Raven could only look up at him; at his hard eyes and flowing black and silver silk robes.

"Raven, unless you wish to do him greater harm—"

The Vice-Head Senator cut himself off with a gasp as he looked down at Robin and saw the runes of Scath glowing all up the length of his forearms.

"Raven, what have you—"

"I didn't…" Raven looked up at him desperately, still shrinking back from Robin as much as the possessed boy would allow. "I don't know what's…"

Marcus hesitated a moment more; then reached down and tore Robin away from her, holding him by his right wrist. Raven knelt there still, gasping, as Robin looked up at Marcus and wailed in anguish; as though he had thought clutching at Raven to be the only thing that could save him.

Marcus paled as he saw the four eyes and the Mark of Scath on his forehead.

He looked up at Raven wildly, his blue eyes wide.

"Raven, what in Azar's name—?"

Raven shook her head.

"I don't… I don't know…"

"Your marks…" Marcus whispered. "These are _your_ marks! For Azar's sake, Raven; _these are your marks!_ They are _his_ influence! The Warning! _Why_ is it on the Avenger?"

"I don't know…"

"You _must_ know!" Marcus yelled. "You must know _something!_ You must have had something to do with this! Why else—"

"I didn't do this to him on purpose!" Raven interrupted angrily, getting to her feet. "Why would I wish this on _anyone_, least of all someone who is my friend?"

Marcus looked down again as he felt Robin go limp in his grasp, suddenly giving up and passing out. Even in the face of this, however, he did not return to normal. Exasperated, Marcus knelt next to him and lay him on his back; grasping the neck of the robe, he tore it down the middle to about Robin's naval with considerable effort.

"Well then," Marcus said weakly, "can you explain _this_, Raven?"

Raven looked over his shoulder and put her hand to her mouth; perhaps to stop herself from screaming. The runes were all up his chest, his shoulders, his neck…

Marcus held him up under his back and took a look at his wings, and then pulled at the hood of the boy's torn robe so that he could see his back.

"This is very bad," he stated grimly, his tone much calmer than it had been only a minute before. "They're on his back as well…" He looked up at her. "If you would look away for a moment…"

Raven blinked, then realised…

She quickly turned away as he had ordered and heard the ripping of more fabric as Marcus tore the robe right the way down.

She heard a groan of frustration follow and turned around even though she knew that Marcus had not covered Robin back up again. Marcus had lain Robin back again and now he was sprawled just about naked on the stone floor of the chamber, his torn robe underneath him and his rune-covered arms still in the sleeves of it.

Unfortunately, the runes were elsewhere too. For example, all up his legs. On his stomach. And on his—

"Oh." Raven looked away quickly.

"This is very bad."

"_This is very bad_…" Raven repeated softly. "What do we…?"

"I don't know. I have never dealt with anything like this before, Raven, and I'm sure neither Seth nor any other members of the Senate have either. This is… demonic possession unlike anything I have ever seen."

Marcus looked up at her, covering Robin up again with his torn red robe. Well, as best he could, now that Robin's lower region seemed to be… more active than the rest of him. And _that_ blazed with crimson runes too. Either way – because of the runes or because of the erection itself, in retrospection of the fact that he was possessed by an indulgence demon and forbidden all kinds of sexual excitement – this was very _very_ bad…

"But Raven… while his… _other_ condition may have nothing to do with you, the Warning…" Marcus sighed. "Raven, what have you done? I told you that you were to follow the same rules as your friends; that you were _not_ to see him, even after saving him last night. How do we know that it wasn't _because_ of you that Robin drowned in his sleep?"

"But I—"

"And now…" Marcus closed his eyes for a second, his anger mounting again. "And now you disobey my orders, send the priestesses to me when I have no desire _whatsoever_ to discuss meditation techniques with them, and whether you continue to deny it or not, Raven, you _must_ have somehow done this to the Avenger because they are _your_ marks! The ones which should – and _will_ – appear on _your_ flesh whenever the prophecy of your birth begins to be realised. Why do they now appear on the skin of your _friend_ for no reason whatsoever?"

"He is possessed by a demon," Raven protested weakly. "Perhaps the demon is a slave of Scath…"

"_You_ would have sensed that in him immediately," Marcus replied shortly. "And so would the Senate. We have agreed that it is an indulgence demon. This I cannot explain; at least not without your help. There must be more! You sent the priestesses away, presumably so that you could talk with the Avenger in private. What followed?"

"I…" Raven thought, her memory train having fled her in her shock. "He was meditating when I came down. He was so deeply under when I came, in fact, that even when I dismissed the priestesses he didn't hear me. I never did speak with him."

"You didn't?"

Raven shook her head.

"No. He was in… some kind of trance. I couldn't get him out of it. So I…"

"You what?"

"Well, I was worried. Especially after what happened last night… and it seemed strange. He has never meditated before, so it seemed strange that he… was so good at it…"

"And what did you _do?_"

"My Soul Self," Raven explained wearily. "I permeated his mind… entered him, tried to see what he was seeing…"

"And did you?"

Raven gave a little shiver.

"Yes…"

"_What_ did you see?" Marcus pressed.

"I… Destruction. Fire." She shook her head a little. "The… the Church of Prophecy."

Marcus went white.

"But you… you have never been, how could you…? And how could _he_…?"

"I do not know. I mean, how _either_ of us knew. But I _did_, and I don't know how it was in his mind, but it was there. How can he know of it? He knows nothing, nothing of _my_ prophecy at least… _None_ of them do…"

"This is very serious… What else did you see?"

Raven gestured at Robin.

"The runes. The Warning."

She said nothing of the _other_ things she had seen. They frightened her too much for her to be able to speak of them…

"Nothing else worthy of mentioning?"

"No."

Marcus nodded and his eyes began to glow white. Summoning his own Soul Self, his essence plunged deep into Robin's solid body and remained there for more than a few moments. Raven watched, her heart hammering in her chest, as the marks on Robin's body began to fade and subside. The second pair of eyes shrank back into nothing, leaving behind only the trickles of blood that had been there to mark their entrance. Within seconds he was "normal" again; a human boy with wings. No third and fourth eyes. No red runes on his skin.

Normal enough.

Marcus' Soul Self came soaring back from within Robin's body and resettled itself back into the body in which it belonged. Marcus took a gasp and shook his head, then opened his eyes.

There were few moments of steely silence—

"It was you." Marcus picked Robin up and stood, not looking at Arella's daughter. "Sending your Soul Self into him did this."

Raven blinked.

"_What?_" She whispered.

"You heard me. His body was ravaged by your influence; or rather, your father's. The demon within him sensed the demon in _you_ and responded to it. It recognised the power of Trigon and – as is the nature of demonic beings – acknowledged the power to be the stronger one. It allowed Trigon's corruption to spread into it; as a result, because it is inhabiting Robin's body, he came out in the Warning runes. It meant nothing; just a physical manifestation. A reaction, perhaps, to the demonic half in _you_."

"I didn't… I didn't realise…" Raven said softly, near tears. "But you… he is alright?"

"I have purged the influence from him. He is, luckily for us, alright." Marcus turned away. "The _other_ thing I can nothing about. Let us pray that he simply stays unconscious long enough for it to wear off on its own. It is dire that he does not… _relieve_ himself. He is in a very bad way already…"

He went to the door, Robin limp in his arms. He turned to Raven again, his eyes icy.

"I will not tell you again, Raven," he said coldly. "Stay away from the Avenger as I have ordered, or you will be punished for it. I cannot make it any clearer to you the importance of that; and there may be no-one else more susceptible of putting him in danger than _you_ are, as Trigon's daughter. If anything here is to cause his death, it will more likely be _you_ than the demon within him…"

He left her alone in the chamber, shaking and frightened by what had just happened.

Wanting answers.

She scowled after the Vice-Head Senator. It was unlike her to be so defiant, but she knew there was a lot more here than what met the eye. A lot more to Robin's predicament – and to her _own_ – than what she could see right in front of her.

Yes, she wanted some answers.

And by Azar she would _have_ them.

If it was the last thing she did.

* * *

Hmm? _Hmm?_

Enough stuff happening for ya?

Well, I had a hard time altering the chapters around this to make it fit, but I think it will be okay…

Guess what? I actually wrote _another_ brand new chapter for ya'll. It comes after this…

_Hehhehheh_…

You just tell me what you think and we'll _all_ be happy…

(BTW, anyone read the _Teen Titans Go!_ comic book series? I do… :) They're expensive here in Britain, mind… Anyway, the idea for this chapter was inspired by Issue 24, _Power Failure_. Basically Katarou stole the gem used by the Master of Games in _Winner Take All, _but it got a bit busted and all the Titans switched powers; so Raven had Robin's martial arts, etc, Robin had Starfire's powers, Starfire had Cyborg's tech, Cyborg had Beast Boy's powers and Beast Boy had Raven's. If you get a chance to pick it up, read it; it's one of the best ones… Anyway, at the end Raven attempts to put the gem back together and put them all back to normal. Only it backfires really badly and they all switch powers again… And this time Robin gets Raven's powers but he isn't "normal" like Beast Boy was; he has four eyes and the Warning runes on him… You'd have to look it up…)

- RobinRocks (rocking out harder than ever to _Stairway to Heaven_!) xXx


	17. His Second Sin

Whoo! Seeing as you all asked _so_ nicely in your reviews for me to update ASAP, I decided to update much faster than usual. Instead of waiting a whole week – often longer – I am updating again for you today! Yay for you!

And guess what… This is _another_ whole new chapter I wrote especially for the fanfiction site version of _Black Magic_! Originally Robin's drowning-in-his-sleep (and the dream he had while doing it) had little relevance to the story – I just put it in after seeing _Constantine_ in the cinema. You know that part where Constantine is holding Angela (the detective, I think) under the water in the bath so that she will be able to see all the demons and devils that walk the Earth in disguise? It was inspired by that bit.

But otherwise it had no real _meaning_.

It does now.

In reference to the mile-long author notes… I'm not scrapping them for good. I'm just gonna leave them off for now but they will probably be back next chapter. Meantime, huge thanks to all readers and reviewers, including; Narroch06; YamiTai; Phoenix Skyborne; Daybreak25 (was he _raping_ her in his "vision"? Yes indeedy, he _was_… :P But more about _that_ later…); Seductive Angel; Quinn and His Quill (if I promise to quit mocking you about Maximus pawning his sword will you review?); Rocky-White Wolf of Curses; and Thrillzone (wow! Thankyou for all those backed-up reviews! It really boosted the review count :D)

Okay, so those were _kinda_ my usual author notes…

Oh, and it's nice for me to know that you don't hate my OCs! Whew! I was so scared you would, because I know OCs can be super-annoying. I have come across few that I have liked in _Teen Titans_ fics. There are the odd few I liked, but otherwise… The ones that are there to help the storyline are cool with me; I hate it when people make up their own Titans, like "The Titans meet a girl with strange powers, but is she friend or foe, blahblahblah…"

Uh, yeah; Warner Bros. already did that. It was called _Terra_. Sorry; my apologies to anyone who has done this. I just done read them… So it is ironic that I don't like OCs too much myself, yet have so many. But… Jonathon Vaughan seems to have acquired a little "fan-club" of sorts. I've had at least three reviews from people saying that they liked him.

Which is cool, because he's in this chapter quite a bit. Especially for you… :)

Enjoy!

His Second Sin

Robin remembered nothing.

Nothing of that morning. Nothing of Raven's Soul Self entering his body. Nothing of the influence the demon Trigon had over his daughter slipping from her into _him_; manipulating the demon within _his_ body.

Nothing of his third and fourth eyes. The Mark of Scath. The Warning on his skin.

Nothing of his meditative dream.

Nothing at all.

He had gone under in the Soul Chamber—

…_blank space_…

—And had woken up sprawled on his bed, mid-afternoon, his crimson velvet robes torn right down the middle.

And having "puzzled until his puzzler was sore", the master teenaged detective had drawn no conclusions as to a.) how he had gotten there; b.) why his clothes were ripped; and c.) where the day had gone.

Grudgingly giving up, he had slipped out of the robes and gratefully replaced them with underwear before padding over to the wardrobe(s) to take a look at what was on offer. Not one for dress-up – Bruce had _grilled_ him for trying on his Batman uniform that one time about six years ago when Dick had _thought_ the billionaire was at a meeting at Wayne Enterprises – he had surprised himself by pulling out nearly every item of clothing in the vast wardrobe(s) and mixing and matching them. The mirrored cupboards were stacked with row upon row of silk robes and kaftans and trousers and cloaks and sashes, every colour of an excessively vibrant rainbow.

Crimson. Fuchsia. Saffron. Emerald. Indigo. Violet. Lavender. Gold. Jade. Navy. Sapphire. Orange. Scarlet. Cerise. Silver. Grey. White. Cherry. Lemon. Lime. Pine—

It went on and on and his eyes hurt just from looking at the amalgamation. But he tried on something of every colour and style, deciding that kaftans looked stupid and that white made him look ill and washed-out.

Gold robes made him look like Jesus Christ Superstar, he realised with a grimace towards the mirror.

He realised two other things – as he stood and scowled at himself dressed in a horrible clash of orange and purple; he looked like Halloween in human form.

One; that these clothes had been put here especially for him; they all had long slits up the back for him to fit his wings through.

And two; there was nothing black. Nothing at all. Not one tiny little thing. Not even a button.

Not that he wanted black particularly, but… it seemed odd to him. It wasn't as though the Azarathians didn't believe in the colour black. Raven's leotard was black. Jonathon Vaughan's robes had been black. Catriona Darke's dress had been black, he remembered.

Still, he had finally chosen an emerald green top with a high neck and long, flowing sleeves – edged with gold – and matching wide, loose trousers, gold-bordered too. These were held up by a gold silk sash at his waist; he opted for nothing on his feet because the soft thick carpet felt so nice on bare toes.

And after putting everything painstakingly back into the wardrobe(s) he had gone for a wander around the Senate House.

Perhaps he had (admittedly) been hopefully searching for even just one of his friends; he had found none of them. He had, however, bumped into numerous… servants, he presumed – nicely-dressed ones – who had all bowed low to him and murmured "Avenger" not quite out his ear-shot. And while he had stood, taken-aback and awkward, at each of these encounters, they had all straightened up and gone on their way, leaving him standing there in the hall utterly perplexed.

He had also passed Jonathon Vaughan, clutching a black leather-bound book, coming in the opposite direction. The senator had grinned and winked and muttered "Looking good" as he had swept past in his black and emerald green robes-and-cloak combo. Robin had turned and watched him go – wanting for some reason to go with him – but Jonathon had not looked back at him. His stride had been purposeful, quick and determined, like that of a man on a mission.

So Robin had floundered in the hall, realising that he had no idea where he was going, until another servant had come past, this one not seeming to realise that he was the Avenger; for she had just smiled at him and made to walk past. He had caught up to her and asked her the way to the library, and she had taken him there after he had looked confused by her verbal directions.

He had then proceeded to get very lost in there; and then, when he had finally found his way back to the door, clutching a book – one of the only ones in English – he had tried to find his way back to his room and gotten lost _then_ too.

So now, lying on his stomach with the book spread on the covers of the bed, he was just grateful to be back in his room, sucking on a ring of pineapple and engrossed within what he assumed was translated Azarathian text.

He had not stayed so blissfully contented for long.

There was an aching uncomfortable heat forming between his legs. His head hurt. Every now and then the page before him would blur.

He suddenly decided he didn't like pineapple anymore and threw his half-eaten ring onto the floor. He was hungry, but for _what_ he could not seem to pinpoint. The only food in his room was the bowl of fresh fruit on his bedside table. He suddenly felt like crying and angrily pushed the glass fruit bowl off the table. It did not smash on the carpet, but overturned and spilt the fruit everywhere.

Not satisfied, he reached down over the edge of the bed and snatched up a plum; he squeezed it until it burst all over his hand, spurting seeds and juice and purple mush all down his wrist and onto the bed sheets.

The sight of it bursting like that made his crotch _ache_.

He dropped the remains of the plum onto the floor and licked the juice from his hand. Then he calmly closed the book and threw it onto the floor to join the fruit.

He buried his face in his cold pillow, breathing hard.

Terrified.

He needed help. He knew he did. He was _sick_, he needed help… But it wasn't _mental_… or maybe it _was_.

He moaned; he couldn't even think straight. He did not feel sick as with last night, when he had vomited blood and drowned in his sleep. But he felt ill all the same; too hot, angry at nothing, and yet he felt like _crying_ at the same time. He had a headache, burning across his brow, and his crotch was burning too; he did not dare to turn over and look down in case something _else_ weird was happening to him.

He was absolutely _terrified_.

He wanted Raven. Jonathon. Marcus. Someone. _Anyone_… Someone who would tell him to calm down; who would _help_ him.

But no-one came. He could not get up and go to find someone; he would get lost again.

And he was too scared to move.

So he simply lay there face down on the covers, willing the sensation away.

_Awaygoawaygoawaygo**away**_…

And when it didn't, he burst into tears.

And then he laughed.

* * *

"Someone should go check on that kid."

Marcus Vandiver looked over his shoulder at Jonathon, his head a little to one side.

"You're right."

He turned away again, taking up another leather-bound book from the pile on the table and slotting it in between two similar books on the wooden shelf.

"_So_…" Jonathon drew the word out reproachfully. "…_We_ should go check on him…"

"I'll go now."

Another book.

"_Why_ are we re-organising Seth's books?" Jonathon asked snippily, looking around the AWOL Head Senator's private study room; a large, bright, beautifully-furnished room in the east wing of the Senate House.

"Because he's coming back and may need them to be in alphabetical order so that he can find them easily to help the Avenger." Marcus heaved a quick little sigh at the end of this. "And _we_ are not doing anything, Jonathon. _I_ am reorganising Seth's books; _you_ are standing there."

"Yeah, well…"

Silence.

"Are we going to go check-"

"Yes, yes!" Marcus snapped irritably. "Just two more books… _There!_" He picked the up, one in each hand, and fitted them onto the shelf.

Then he frowned, looking at the way they all tilted to the left slightly.

"There's one missing," he said softly.

"No there isn't."

"Yes there _is_!" Marcus insisted, turning back to the second senator. "Look, see the gap at the end…?"

"Oh, yeah…" Jonathon shrugged. "Maybe he took it with him."

"Maybe…" The Vice-Head Senator turned to his friend fully. "Alright, let's go look in on the Avenger…"

"Then ice-cream?"

"Yeah, why not?"

Jonathon beamed.

"I'm _dying_ for a hot-fudge sundae…"

Marcus rolled his blue eyes, heading for the door; on his way out he flicked his hand in the direction of the desk and the sheets of paper – dusty – all glowed white and flew into a neat pile at his command.

Jonathon shot him a deadpan expression.

"Why you couldn't just do the _books_ that way is beyond me…"

* * *

Tears still streaming from his burning eyes, Robin had given up trying to _will_ the feeling away. He had finally rolled over and placed his cool pillow between his legs, hoping it would soothe him. He had lain there, his breath coming in short gasps, one hand on his aching head and his eyes tight shut.

And when it hadn't worked, he had given up.

Given in.

Torn off the sash at his waist and pulled down his green trousers.

_Seen_ the reason for his hot discomfort; and he had put the pillow over his face and _screamed_ into it. Frustrated and angry and upset and frightened.

He was not in any way "turned on". The book was one of the history of white magic; nothing erotic. His thoughts had not wandered to traitorous ones.

And yet there it was; his body betraying him. _For_ _no reason whatsoever_.

It was starting to _hurt_ him.

He had sat up. Drawn his knees up. Wrapped his wings around himself and pulled down his shorts. With a shaking hand – _defeated_ – he had slipped down and touched himself—

And the _pleasure_ that had shuddered though him had not been normal. Pleasure magnified ten-fold. _Twenty_-fold. Nothing had ever felt so _wonderful_…

He writhed after just one touch, moaning, near passing-out. No, he could not stop now; he _couldn't_—

TT

Jonathon's hand froze on the door handle; hearing that stifled moan.

"Did you…?"

"…Hear that?" Marcus finished, the colour draining from his face. They exchanged a look of mixed confusion and horrified comprehension; and then Jonathon slammed down the handle and burst into the room, Marcus practically tripping over him.

"Oh, _Azar_…" Jonathon's tone was one of immense frustration.

The boy was curled up on his bed, writhing, his wings shifting; but both senators could clearly see that he was masturbating.

"Well, don't _stand_ there!" Marcus shouted, furious. He pushed Jonathon aside and was at the bed before the other man had even regained his balance.

"Azar _damn_ you, boy!" Marcus seethed, taking hold of Robin's wings and forcing them apart. He reached in and grasped Robin's wrist, pulling his hand away from his object of affection.

Robin made a shrill sound and tried to pull his hand back. Marcus grabbed his other wrist too as he began to kick and struggle.

His eyes behind his mask were glazed and his face shone with sweat.

"Marcus…"

Marcus turned to Jonathon as the other senator addressed him.

"What?"

"The floor…" Jonathon gestured at the carpet; at the upturned fruit bowl, the crushed plum and the discarded book.

He looked up again.

"I doubt this was because he has a couple of _Playboys_ shoved under his mattress…"

Marcus gave a frustrated hiss.

"_Demons_…"

He hauled Robin to his feet, still holding his wrists; Robin's struggles had diminished and now he stood limply, Marcus all but holding him up. The only thing about him that stood up straight was the _source_ of the _problem_.

He did not speak.

Jonathon waved a hand in front of Robin's face and he didn't respond.

"What do we-"

"Bathroom. _Now_."

Marcus abruptly pulled up Robin's shorts and green trousers and picked him up. He engaged his white Soul Self and disappeared into it, taking Robin with him. Jonathon followed his lead, melting into his too and resurfacing a few moments later in the huge bathroom of the Senate House.

He was greeted by having Robin dumped into his arms.

"Marcus, what are you-"

Marcus ignored him, spreading his hand in the direction of the huge bath, filled with hot water. With a single flick of his fingers the temperature of the water plummeted to just above freezing point.

"There…" He withdrew his hand and nodded to Jonathon. "_In_. Put him in. We'll have to get rid of it the old-fashioned way…"

Jonathon hesitated; then crossed to the edge of the huge bath and dropped Robin into the water, the boy's dead weight due to his sudden lethargy causing him to drop like a rock.

It lasted mere moments, however.

Robin kicked upwards, woken up utterly by the icy plunge he had just taken. He broke the surface and clung to the edge, trying to haul himself out.

"_No!_" Suddenly insanely angry, Marcus pushed his splayed hand on the crown of Robin's head and forced him back under the water, holding him there.

Panic overrode Robin's senses at the feeling of being held under; _his dream_…

_His dream. Slade holding him under. Scratching and kicking and clawing but drowning all the same—_

He opened his mouth to gasp and water flooded his lungs; his vision blotched and his skull screamed and he could feel himself _drowning_…

His hands caught around Marcus' bare wrist and he scratched and clawed at the skin, making him bleed, trying to get him to let go. The claws of his wings joined the battle and he kicked and struggled under the water—

"Marcus!" Jonathon grasped his friend's wrist. "_Marcus!_ For Azar's sake, you're going to _drown_ him!" With a huge effort Jonathan tugged Marcus' hand from Robin's head, pulling his friend backwards.

Robin shot to the surface, near-blue in the face and his black hair plastered all across his forehead. He gripped the edge but had lost all strength to pull himself out this time.

Jonathon let go of Marcus and took Robin's wrists, easily hauling him out. Robin fell to his hands and knees and crawled a few inches, coughing and coughing.

Jonathon smacked him on the back to help him cough all the water out of his lungs, and when he was done, Robin collapsed on his face on the marble floor of the bathroom.

His hazel eyes narrowed, Jonathon whipped around to glare at Marcus.

"We're supposed to be trying to _save_ him, not _kill_ him!" He snapped. "What is _wrong_ with you?"

Marcus looked up from his ravaged wrist; the pale Azarathian skin all scratched and torn and bleeding.

"I was giving that demon a scare," he muttered. "It dropped its hold over him the second it felt me hold its host under the water…"

"Yeah, well, you gave _Robin_ a fright, and _me_ one too!" Jonathon spat. "Ruthless methods… you're starting to get like Seth…"

Marcus said nothing as he straightened up. He healed his wrist with the mutter of a few words.

"Jonathon, this situation is becoming very serious," was all he could say in answer. "I told you about this morning; the Warning runes, the Mark of Scath…"

He shook his head.

"I start to wonder if even _Seth_ can do anything…"

He turned on his heel and swept from the bathroom without another word.

Jonathon found it little wonder that he sometimes felt this… _hatred_ for the man who had once been his very best friend. But Marcus was so hard to get to now. The _real_ Marcus. Now, since being appointed Vice-Head Senator, he was too busy…

…trying to be like Seth Elliott…

Still looking at the door, Jonathon sank next to his knees next to Robin.

The boy was restored to normal, just as Marcus had said, but he was sobbing and shaking, soaked through.

He put his hand on Robin's back between his wings in an effort to soothe him.

Robin slammed his fist on the marble floor and screamed in frustration and despair.

At the hopelessness of it all.

And then he cried again.

And if Jonathon Vaughan could do nothing to stop his angry frightened tears—

Then he could do nothing to stop the demon within him either.

* * *

So Robin's dream didn't come _true_… but it was a _premonition_…

And so, on those grounds, his _other_ "vision"…?

If you're _really_ nice and shower me with reviews, I _might_ update quickly again…

Hmm?

'Til next time…

- RobinRocks xXx


	18. On Leather Wings

I know, I know… it's been a loooong time…

But to Quinn and His Quill; it wasn't because of _you_. Like I ever listen to anything _you_ say…

Okay, this chapter; this is the kick-off of _the_ most _important_ event of _Black Magic_. In fact, quite possibly the most important event of the whole _trilogy_. Not very much is explained here at all, but remember that this and the two chapters which will come after this were originally all one chapter. The next two are where the action is.

Anyway, seeing as Utopia – who complained my ANs were too long – never came back, I guess I shall just slide back into my old ways. To; **YamiTai** (I will try to continue with your insanity, my friend. And you're starting a Jonathon Vaughan Fan Club for _real_? I was just kidding!); **Quinn and His Quill** (who wrote the wonderful _Chronicles of the Great Archipelago 2.5_, in which we see the reason for Maximus losing his sword – he pawns it for pie! Oh, and they have ice-cream in Azarath, although it is a query Best Boy will bring up later in the fic); **faerieraven **(you spent **three whole weeks** reading this and _Asylum_? Wow…); **Daybreak25** (Marcus _had_ to stop Robin from jerking off, I'm afraid… you wanna read about Robin jerking off, you go read _Nor Would It Be The Last_ on my profile. End of shameless plug.); **Rocky-White Wolf of Curses** (yes, Marcus needs help. BTW, in your review you called yourself a guy ("Whimpers like the pitiful wolf _he_ is"). You _do_ realise that, right? I could've sworn you were a chick… :P); **Sarah Shima** (to borrow a line from Slade: we meet at last, huh? I've seen you and your fics popping up _everywhere_… Thanks for the review! I'm glad you like it!); **Narroch06** (all your confusing questions… I already told you that you noticed inconsistencies that even _I_ didn't… So keep your mouth _shut_, "Gluttony"! And you gotta love horny Robin, yeah…); **Thrillzone** (afraid Seth Elliott still doesn't make an appearance in this chapter, but he'll be here soon, 'kay?); **Absinthe** (who read through this and left **SEVENTEEN** reviews! Thankyou muchly! Hope you like _this_ chapter too…); and **Phoenix Skyborne** (who didn't review, but I can't hold that to you because I _still_ haven't reviewed _Changes: Nine Months More…_).

Hope you like this, guys. For all of you who requested it… Robin _flies_ in this chapter. _Whoo!_

And yeah… the title is nicked from a _Batman: TAS_ episode; I think it might be the first one, the one with Man-Bat in it…

You aren't going crazy.

On Leather Wings

"Hey, where's our pointy-haired loony?" Cyborg asked loudly. He was sitting on a huge, lustrous red velvet couch, thoroughly comfortable and thoroughly bored. He, Beast Boy, Starfire and Raven were in the Senate House lounge room, a massive room that was lavishly furnished. There was a huge marble fireplace, in which a bright fire roared and spat, four full-size red couches, countless rocking and reclining wine-coloured leather chairs, more of that thick cat-fur carpet, real fur rugs, and huge cushions all over the place. Everything was velvet and silk and satin, and across the room was a full-size bar, unoccupied, lots of palm trees and a balcony, the curtains pulled across at present and blocking out the night world outside. Mahogany shelves of books lined the high walls of the room, but that was it.

There was no TV. There was no Game-station. There was no radio. They didn't have those things in Azarath.

Cyborg and Beast Boy were utterly distraught.

"Our "pointy-haired loony" is doing what he's told," Raven said coolly, turning the page of her book. She and Starfire were on the biggest couch, Raven at one end, Starfire sprawled out at the other, similarly engrossed in a leather-bound volume.

"And his hair is not so pointy anymore," she went on.

"I don't get why they've separated him from us," Cyborg said moodily. "It's not fair on him. He's isn't Azarathian, he's never been here before, and they've just practically locked him up by himself…"

"Cyborg, I've told you this about _four_ times," Raven said irritably. "Robin is not very well, to put it mildly. My people are trying to help him…"

"But we haven't even _seen_ him since we got here!" Beast Boy put in.

Raven looked up and glared at him.

"Well, _you_ have…"

Beast Boy was defiant.

"So have _you!_" He retorted. "Cy's right. We haven't seen Robin all day. It's been, like, 24 hours…"

"You aren't allowed to see him," Raven pressed. "Please, none of you breach his chances. Don't break the rules and go to see him."

"Then how come _you're_ allowed?" Cyborg asked.

"Because I brought him here, because I know him better than any of the senators, and because I am Arella Roth's daughter," Raven said coolly, going back to her book.

Lying. Again. _She_ was now as forbidden as any of them.

She looked across at Starfire; the alien girl was wearing yet another dress; deep purple velvet now, with silver detailing. She had already changed her outfit at least three times that day, utterly enchanted by Azarathian attire. Raven had to admit that her friend did look pretty in the Azarathian clothes. She herself had also changed since seeing Robin earlier, but was just a little more than conventional; a plain white sleeveless silk dress covered her curves where her leotard would have been, topped with her usual cloak, white instead of purple. She had matching silver cuffs on each of her wrists and little white soft leather pumps on her feet. Cyborg hadn't endorsed in the free clothes – nothing would fit him – but Beast Boy had taken a delight similar to Starfire's and was wearing black and crimson silk robes with a large hood that shadowed his green face the way Raven's did.

"Reckon Robin got free clothes, too?" Beast Boy asked, pulling down his hood for the umpteenth time; he liked pulling it up and down, thinking it looked mysterious.

"Probably." Raven turned another page.

Beast Boy heaved a sigh. Cyborg mirrored him.

"Look, if you're bored, go and explore the Senate House some more," Raven said irritably, not looking up. She knew that Cyborg and Beast Boy were not like Robin; they didn't enjoy reading all that much. There was nothing for them to do here; Raven and Starfire could meditate or read or just sit and talk together, but Beast Boy and Cyborg were bored already.

"Sounds like a good idea," Cyborg muttered. "C'mon, B…"

The two boys left the room. Raven sighed and shook her head. She could tell they liked Azarath, but it couldn't entertain them. Azarath was so like Earth in some ways, and completely different in others.

She became engrossed in her book again and allowed time to simply melt. When she looked up again she saw by the grandfather clock that it was twenty-five minutes to twelve. Starfire looked up at that point too; the alien girl had been very quiet all day, reserved and more than likely simply pining for Robin.

"It is late," she stated. Raven raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah…" She closed her book and Starfire did the same. "We should get to bed."

Starfire yawned as she got up from the huge couch.

"Agreed, Raven," she said, stifling a yawn. "X'hal, I am tired…"

"Well, of course," Raven replied flatly. "You've had a hard day doing _absolutely nothing_…"

Starfire smiled good-naturedly and left the lounge room, bidding her telekinetic friend goodnight. Raven too departed but, unlike Starfire, headed in the opposite direction to her own room, instead making for Robin's secluded quarters at the back of the Senate House—

For the memory of that morning had been haunting her all day; watching the influence her father had over _her_ being manifested onto _his_ body. It sent an icy shiver down her spine whenever she thought of it.

She was forbidden to see him.

But that wasn't going to _stop_ her.

She soon found his room and entered the usual way – sinking through the door. She stepped through into the room, the scene pretty much the same as it had been the night before. Robin was sprawled out on his bed, but he was on top of the covers, and still wearing his silk bathrobe over his shorts. His hair was damp, too, implying he wasn't long out of the bath, and there was a leather-bound book lying open on his stomach. He was fast asleep, but she was relieved to note that he was the right colour and had no runes on his skin and he was definitely breathing; he was snoring a little, actually, just tiny little contented snuffles that showed he was in a deep sleep and very happy to be there, thanks.

Looking much less Azarathian now for the loss of those hooded crimson robes. And at least he was wearing underwear now.

She frowned. He wasn't supposed to be asleep, not without one of the senators in to watch him in case he pulled another of the tricks he had last night, like drowning.

She felt a bit mean as she shook Robin awake; he had looked so peaceful. But she knew rightly he wasn't supposed to be asleep – it sounded stupid – without supervision. Even _babies_ could sleep without supervision. But then, babies didn't drown in their sleep, they didn't throw up blood…

His masked eyes fluttered open and he looked up at her, still sleepy. He combed his fingers through his damp black hair, then rubbed his eyes.

"S'it morning?" He questioned drowsily.

"No." Raven shook her head as she answered him. "It's not even midnight."

"I haven't been asleep for very long then…" He yawned and picked up his book off his stomach. He looked at it lazily, then snapped it shut and placed it on the mattress beside him.

Raven brushed a strand of ebony hair from his eyes as he lay back again; she noticed that he flinched a little as she did so. Overall, there seemed to be something extremely guarded about his disposition; like he wasn't _really_ very pleased to see her. Like he wanted her to go away… because something had happened that he didn't want to talk about.

"Are you alright?" She asked him, concerned.

"Fine, thankyou." His response was short and slightly irritable.

"How have you been today?" Raven pressed. "Since… since I saw you?"

He quirked an eyebrow.

"You _didn't_ see me," he said. "I haven't seen you since last night… right?"

Raven blinked. He obviously remembered nothing.

"I… do you… the runes, Robin. Do you remember _anything_ of this morning?"

"_Runes_?" Robin repeated confusedly. "Raven, what are you-?"

"Nothing," Raven interrupted him quickly. "Good, I'm just testing you. Sometimes the demons can implant falsities in your mind and you "remember" things that have not truly happened. I was just checking that you were still of… sound mind."

What he didn't know couldn't worry him; and explaining the runes would mean a lot of explaining about herself. Which was something she wasn't ready for yet.

But she was really becoming _too_ good at lying to her friends.

"So… how have you been?" She asked smoothly, redirecting the conversation.

"Oh, alright," he answered nonchalantly; again she got the idea that he was hiding something from her. His wings flexed a little and she saw his shoulders move with them. "Meditation is _boring_."

"Not if you do it properly."

He snorted.

"And you've been alright? Nothing weird happened to you?" Raven pressed. "No strange feelings, no throwing up blood or anything like that?"

"I, uh…" He shook his head, and his wings moved again as he did so. "No, I've been fine… just fine…"

She narrowed her eyes as she looked at him.

"You're hiding something. Come on, Robin; what happened?"

"_Nothing_!" He turned over on his side, a scowl on his face. "Nothing happened. I'm fine, everything's _fine_…"

"Robin…" She sighed heavily. "Don't lie to me. Because I can read your thoughts if I really feel I need to."

"That's a violation of my privacy," he reminded her icily.

"But that's your problem, Robin," Raven countered coolly. "You keep a little too _much_ private."

He sat up angrily.

"Okay, you know what?" He snapped. "You can read my thoughts if you want, but it's pretty embarrassing and anyway, Marcus and Jonathon handled it. It's _okay_, Raven, really. The problem has been sorted."

"Robin, you _know_ I'm not going to laugh at you. Just _tell_ me."

He groaned and put his hand to his forehead; then dragged his fingers down his face in exasperation.

"I had a… _guy_ problem," he admitted eventually, refusing to look at her. "_Please_ don't ask me to say anything more than that. And it… felt _weird_. Like I felt angry and hysterical and frustrated and upset all at once; I was crying and then laughing, and I felt so _hot_ and furious, like I wanted to _kill_ something."

"And?"

He glanced up at her moodily.

"_And_ I… _relieved_ myself. Or _attempted_ to, anyway. But that felt weird too; like I was completely out of it. In some kind of weird trance – you know you sometimes you get the feeling that you aren't really _there_? Like you can't really _feel_ anything? That's what it was like. And then Marcus and Jonathon came bursting in and… you know, I _really_ don't wanna talk about this. Is that okay with you?"

She nodded speechlessly.

"Good." He nodded tartly. "Marcus and Jonathon sorted it, take my word for it. I'm _fine_ now. Seriously."

"How did they-?"

"Old-fashioned way. Cold shower. Or _bath_, anyway."

She nodded again and watched him as he shifted in noticeable discomfort; his wings were rustling slightly and he kept flexing his shoulders and wincing.

"Oh, these _wings_… they won't keep _still_…" He said abruptly, changing the subject.

Instinctively Raven put a hand out to touch one and she felt one of the muscles twitch beneath her fingers.

"They need exercise," she stated. "Robin, you haven't used them at all, not even to stretch them. They're restless."

Robin snorted.

"So what am I supposed to do, _fly_ with them?"

Raven raised her eyebrows.

"Well, _yeah_… I believe that's what they are _for_..."

"Forget it, Ray. I'll kill myself."

Raven looked at him for a second or two, skeptical; then she grasped hold of his wrists and hauled him off his bed to his feet.

"Come on," she told him firmly. "You're going to fly. You might as well make the most of them…"

"Uh-uh… Raven, _no_… I don't think…" He tried to protest as Raven pushed him towards the balcony curtains.

"No buts."

"But Raven-"

"I said _no_ buts."

He felt the warm night air hit him as Raven shoved him through the curtains onto the open balcony. He looked down at himself; he was dressed as though he had just got out of the bath. Well, he _had_. All he was wearing was his boxer shorts and his white bathrobe, which was long sleeved but only came to his knees, leaving the rest of his legs bare. He wasn't wearing anything on his feet, either.

"Could you at least let me get properly dressed?" He reasoned as Raven started to push him towards the edge of the balcony.

"You're only going for a little flutter. You don't _need_ to be properly dressed."

He got to the balcony edge and gripped the stone rail as he looked down. It was a very big drop to the lake below…

"Raven, I'll kill myself," he said shaking his head. Raven tweaked his wings.

"No, you won't. Not if you flap _these_ things."

He shook his head again and backed away from the edge.

"No, I can't. I'll fall, I know I will. I don't think these things are built to take my weight."

"For Pete's sake, Robin, I'll _catch_ you if you fall!" Raven said, incredulous. "You think I'd let you hurt yourself?"

"No, but-"

"Good." She patted the rim of the balcony. "Sit up on here and you can just fall off and flap them."

He hesitated, looking over the side of the balcony again.

"Robin, I won't let you fall," Raven promised. "Come on, at least _try_. I know you hate them but I know you'd like flight and it seems a waste to me if you don't use them while you have them."

He sighed, defeated.

"Alright, alright…"

He clambered up onto the rim of the balcony and perched there. Raven herself rose into the air and offered him her hand. He took it and she could feel him shaking a little.

"Come on, Robin… I know you can do this…"

He nodded slightly, took a deep breath… and slipped off the balcony. Immediately she felt his entire weight tug on her arm as he dropped like a rock.

"_Robin_… _flap_ them… you _idiot_…!" Raven grunted, clinging to him with all her strength to prevent him from falling.

She felt a little breeze on her legs and then felt the weight on her arm ease and suddenly he was at the same level as her again.

He was beaming.

"Look, I'm doing it!" He said brightly.

And he _was_. He was simply hovering at the moment, but his huge wings were flapping easily and majestically, slicing the warm air. He was laughing happily, suddenly cheerful again, his soft hair rippling across his face in his self-created breeze. She could tell simply by looking at him that he was loving it.

And she could tell there was no stopping him now.

"Come and catch me, Raven!" He cried gleefully, taking off before she could grab hold of him. He streaked off like a shooting star, flitting away into the darkness. She was surprised; she hadn't expected him to pick it up _this_ quickly. But then, it was probably different to the way she and Starfire flew. His was no superpower, but actual appendages that enabled him to fly. She flew after him but she wasn't fast enough for him – Starfire was a much faster flier than she was – and she soon realised that she had lost him.

_Great. I never should have talked him into it…_

She looked around wildly for him, hoping he hadn't gone too far, and caught sight of him again some 20 ft above her, his black bat-like wings contrasting against his white robe. She flew upwards to block him off and he stopped abruptly to avoid crashing into her.

"Hi," he greeted her pleasantly.

"Robin, that's enough, now," Raven reasoned. "I don't want you to hurt yourself…"

"I'm fine."

He ducked out of her reach and shot off again, occasionally looking behind him to see if she was following him.

She sighed. How childish. He wanted her to chase him.

She folded her arms and shook her head. He came back, his head on one side.

"Why?" He inquired, flitting behind her. She turned to face him.

"Aren't you a little _old_ to be playing silly games, Robin?" She asked icily. He shrugged.

"I'm just sick of doing serious stuff," he reasoned. "C'mon, Raven; let's play Chase. You're it."

He tagged her shoulder and flew off again.

"Robin, _no_…"

She trailed off. He was too far away; he wouldn't hear her now. He didn't _want_ to hear her, either. Robin was usually a very serious and committed person, but when he got into one of these silly moods he wasn't very cooperative. He wanted to play Chase, and he would carry on flying around the sky until she caught him.

She was beginning to realise just how much of a _stupid_ idea this had been…

With a sigh she set off after him, expending all her speed in an attempt to catch up to Batboy, who was performing loop-de-loops as he made his getaway. She could see how much he was enjoying himself, and that in itself worried her. Did this count as an indulgence? Because if it did, she had probably just made the situation a whole lot worse for him…

She eventually caught up to him as he had stopped and was looking down at the still lake far below, his head cocked to one side. She hoped that if she tagged him he would stop, and so dived for him. With a single flap of his wings he got out of her reach, grinned, spiralled over in the air and nosedived towards the lake at breakneck speed.

"_Robin!_" Raven shrieked after him, feeling her heart jump as she watched him literally fall of the sky. She soared after him immediately and saw him arch back upwards before he hit the surface of the water.

She scowled. He was doing it on purpose now, trying to scare her. He passed her, looped over her as she changed direction to try and catch him, and went vertically towards the water again. She saw him streaking along below her, inches from the water's surface and running his fingers through it as he flew.

_Right. Fine. If that's how you want to play, Batboy…_

She teleported from where she was and reappeared centimetres from the water herself, about six feet in front of him. His masked eyes widened as he hurtled towards and she smirked at him, her hand on her hips. He smirked in return, tilted the edge of his right wing into the water, then flicked it upwards, showering her with water. She shrieked as it hit her and covered her face.

"_ROBIN!_" She screamed furiously. She heard him laughing triumphantly as he flew over her vertically back into the sky.

_Right, that is **it**…_

She looked up at him and saw he was making for the grassy bank across the other side of the lake. She shook herself off and went after him. He landed before her and the bank was so dark she lost sight of him immediately. Around thirty seconds later she herself landed and looked around.

The bank was quite small, sort of more like a little island, only with a steep cliff face on the other side of it. The lake transformed into a waterfall here, cascading over the edge to another lake below. Streams joined the two lakes, so that they each never ran out of water; the liquid was merely circulated. The bank itself was covered in long, lush grass and alive with vegetation, bushes and palms and several huge weeping willows.

There was absolutely no sign of Robin.

Raven walked cautiously across the long grass, ducking under a low-hanging bough from the nearest – and largest – willow. Her violet eyes darted this way and that, searching for the escaped Boy Wonder. Really, he was very annoying sometimes; he sincerely irritated her when in one of these childish moods. It was like the only sensible male member of the team – intelligent, determined, dedicated-to-their-cause Robin – had morphed into another Beast Boy right before her eyes. And one Beast Boy was _more_ than enough…

Irritatingly, he still retained many of Robin-the-kickass-crimefighter's techniques. For instance, she couldn't hear him at all. She couldn't see him, she couldn't even seem to sense him. Robin was very good in the dark, excellently trained by Batman to use it to his advantage. It was as though he became merely spirit when deprived of light. She would have thought his wings would have robbed him of this ability, but obviously not. Robin was hiding from her, and if he didn't want to be found, he wouldn't be.

The only thing was, it scared her a little. She had no idea where he was; all it would take would be for him to turn savage again and he would have her at a disadvantage. She hated to fear Robin – he was her friend and she knew that in a normal state he would never even _think_ of hurting her. He had been fine earlier that day, for instance. But that was the thing; he _wasn't_ normal. He had wanted to hurt her last night, and he _would_ _have_ if she had allowed him to. It wouldn't have been deliberate on his part, but he would still have done it.

"Robin!" She called. "Come on, come out now! The game's over!"

Nothing.

Silence.

And again remembering the night before, she began to grow very afraid…

* * *

What happens next? Something that's a _lot_ more fun… and something for the RobinxRaven shippers.

I'm sure you're already making guesses. I can't promise you'll be _right_, though…

Well, you want the next chapter, you gotta review. I have 134 reviews for this and could go for more.

Hey, I _like_ them. They make me happy.

And I have an English AS level exam tomorrow; if anything, you should leave a review out of pity.

Sounds like a good charity to me; _Review the Unfortunate_.

Eh, you never know. It might catch on.

- RobinRocks xXx


	19. Entangled Emotions

I have updated again _extremely_ quickly… because I am in a pretty good mood.

And because I want to tease you all some…

First of all, big thankyou to everyone who wished me luck in my English exam. It was okay; actually, I was laughing.

The first task was to write the opening of a story.

Hahahahahaaaaaaaaaaa…

I have more exams next week, so the updates might not be so quick. Which is unfortunate for you because this chapter ends on a pretty nasty cliff-hanger…

To; **faerieraven** (you added this to Favourites? You'll be coming back, then? And thanks for the wish of good luck!); **Quinn and His Quill** (another cesspool of sex and smut for ya here, Quinn; just because I know, deep down, you really love it… BTW, you have **_NO_** idea what I'm doing with this story, so hahaha… and Top Gun? Explain…); **Daybreak25 **(special super-quick update for you, m'dear, in aid of your "charity". Rape scene? What rape scene? Mwa ha haaa… And you're _Mickeykins_ now?); **Rocky-White Wolf of Curses** (you have an alter-ego now? I don't get it… Yeah, I read on your profile something about someone wanting you to write a "slash" fic about yourself and Robin and/or Slade. You're a chick; slash don't work like that, Rocky, honey…); **Thrillzone** (something big and bad coming? You bet! And yay for Robin taking flight!); **Narroch06** (Seth Elliott? Kickass? You'd better believe it, homie! And yeah; horny-possessed-Robin on the loose… Raven might find herself with her hands rather full…); **Kougraness** (new reviewer! So glad you like it! hope you like this chapter too!); someone called… um, **Me** (and it was anonymous, so I'm guessing that ain't your real pen-name… Glad _On Leather Wings_ brightened your day and "that RobinxRaven part" kicks off here and gets seriously _hot_ next chapter…); **YamiTai** (Robin liked flying… he will fly again later… Heh, I'm kidding; you can start a Jonathon Vaughan fan club if you want, my friend. You _might_, however, want to reserve your "Favourite _Black Magic_ OC" slot for Seth Elliott, who is going to be showing up very soon…); and **Seductive Angel** (_I Believe I Can Fly_? You know, that might have worked. I do, however, as you may know, have a vendetta against song-fics… You said is Raven gonna fuck Robin _again_; are you getting confused with _Lace and Leather_, or do you mean in relation to stuff that happened in the fics prior to _Asylum_? Either way… you'll just have to wait and see…).

Note to all; Raven begins to go a little OOC in this chapter. It is entirely intentional and is the build-up for the next chapter; there is also a reason for it. So please don't leave a review saying she's OOC (which Quinn will, just out of spite, I know it…).

Also there are a few things in this chapter that Robin and Raven say which might floor you, because they refer to the 80s _New Teen Titans_ series and _Batman Year 3_. For now, just read through and let it wash over you. I have explained everything at the bottom in case you are confused. If you _know_ what they are on about, more power to you!

Otherwise… I think you're gonna like this one…

Entangled Emotions

Standing alone in the darkness, Raven quivered as she searched for some sign of the vanished newly-demonic Boy Wonder.

She ventured forwards a little further, feeling her heart thumping in her chest. She didn't know if he was playing anymore, or if he was really was going to attack her from the darkness.

"_Robin!_" She repeated. "Come on, this isn't funny anymore!"

_Not that it was funny in the first place…_

Still silence.

"Robin?" She called again, her voice timid now. She had this horrible feeling he was going to pounce on her and try to kill her or eat her or whatever demons did…

She stepped a little further forwards again and felt something crack beneath one of her soft pumps. Her heart leapt and she heard something rustle. She turned abruptly in the direction of the noise, focusing her energy. She didn't want to hurt him but she would if it was necessary to stop him.

"Azarath. Metrion. _Zin_-"

Something smashed into her, interrupting her. She screamed in both shock and fright as she was sent to the floor and she and Robin – it was obviously him; she could feel his wings against her – tumbled over and over across the grass until they came to halt in a tangled heap. She didn't dare move for a few seconds; then she heard him giggling.

"Sorry," he said brightly. She could feel his weight on top of her but wasn't sure exactly _where_ he was in referral to his anatomy. His voice sounded quite near to her ear but she could see very little of him as the trees eclipsed the twin moons.

"Did I scare you?" Robin went on, his voice apologetic.

Raven could feel anger overtaking her fear. He wasn't savage at all; he was just playing around. Didn't he realise how much he had frightened her? Or was he just being an insensitive jerk?

"Robin, you _moron_," she hissed. "You frightened the life out of me!"

"Hey, I apologised!" He retorted indignantly.

"Sure, and you meant it…" She grunted as she tried to shift his weight off her body. "Hey, _get off_…"

He laughed again.

"I don't think you've realised it, Ray, but we're stuck," he informed her.

"What?"

She tried again to push him off but he was right; they were jammed together, his wings all tangled in her cloak, their bodies unintentionally intertwined beneath the net of wings and silk so that it was quite impossible to even move. She hadn't realised it before but her hands were touching _his_ body and not her own. One was pushing against his belly, the other against something smooth which she assumed was his thigh because it was bare. She could feel the silk of his robe against her own bare arms, feel the fingers of his left hand digging into her spine where his hand was stuck under her back. She didn't know where his other hand was but it wasn't touching her so she assumed it was jammed behind him or something.

"Well, untangle yourself, then!" She snapped, nettled. "And do it quickly, so I can kick your butt."

"I'm _trying_…"

She felt her cloak pulling as he tried to shift his wings.

"Robin, that's not helping…"

She tried to move her legs but one knee bumped against his back; the other was entangled with one of his and she couldn't move it.

"We need someone else to untangle us," she stated.

"Well, there's no way _that's_ happening," Robin acknowledged. He grunted as he tried to pull his wings free again and didn't succeed.

"Try moving your elbow," Raven instructed. He obliged but didn't succeed.

"Alright, let me try to…" She didn't finish as she tried to move her hands behind him in an attempt to untangle his wings. She was easily able to move the one from his thigh but wasn't sure where she was supposed to be moving it to as it was pitch dark and it was beneath the mess of cloak and wings.

"If you go up to my shoulder, you might be able to loosen it up," he suggested.

"Alright…"

She tried that and stopped immediately as she felt something brush against her hand.

Something that definitely wasn't hers.

He breathed out heavily.

"Raven… um… your hand…"

She closed her eyes even though it was dark anyway, burning.

"Is it… where I think it is?…" She dared to ask.

"Depends on _where_ you think it is…" He tried to make a joke of it but it fell flat. "Yeah, it is. If you could… uh… _move_ it, I'd appreciate it…"

"Good thing you're wearing underwear," she said flatly. She tried to shift her hand but he had moved when she had first touched him and now she couldn't get very far. She certainly couldn't get back to his thigh.

"Um, Robin…"

"_Great_."

"I'm sorry…"

"It's ok, as long as you don't move too much… because…"

"Oh…"

"Perhaps if you could get your hand out from under my stomach it might help…"

"Ok…"

She tugged her arms backwards, focusing on _that_ hand as opposed to her _other_, which she was trying not to move, and managed to ease it out. Unfortunately he then fell on top of her, now with nothing to support him. She could feel his face against the side of her own, feel him breathing on her hair.

"_Ouch_… sorry…"

He tried to push off her but he was still restricted and couldn't get very far. She helped him by pushing on his chest with her now-free hand but he was stuck against her cloak, which was tangled in his wings. They both relaxed again, Robin trying to keep as far away from Raven as he could.

"This isn't working," he sighed. "We've just made it worse."

"Mmm." She tried to shift and her hand brushed him again.

"Raven, _don't!_"

"Oh, yeah, I'm doing it on purpose, Wonder Boy…" She wrinkled her nose, remembering the initial touch. "Although to be honest, you're _not_ all that _wonderful_…"

Robin's pale face flushed brilliant pink.

"Shut up! If you'd just move your hand-"

"I'm trying, but it's stuck…"

"How convenient…"

"God, you're arrogant…"

They were starting to get angry at each other and their extremely close proximity was unfortunate, to be honest, not to mention the position of Raven's hand.

"This is _your_ fault, you know," Raven said icily. "_You_ jumped on me!"

"I didn't realise _this_ was going to happen!" Robin fired back. She didn't realise it, but he was even more irritated than she was; at himself for getting them into this problem in the first place, and also at his body. Sure, Raven was pretty with really great curves, and she was touching him _there_, but he wasn't exactly getting excited here; he was getting annoyed, and although the absolute _last_ thing on his mind was getting out of his pants, his damned body had other ideas. Sometimes it was _very_ unfortunate luck being a guy…

So he had one option, and one option alone; get free before she figured it out.

"I'm going to try and get my hand out from under your back," he said. "If you could… um… try to pull your hand out from… we could maybe pull your cloak off and get free that way…"

Raven sighed.

"Alright…" She tried and brushed him again. "Robin, I can't without… pushing right against you…"

Alarm bells went off in his head.

"Alright, just leave it," he said hastily. "We'll sort that in a minute… Here, push against my chest again to give me some room…"

She obliged and with a grunt he managed to work his hand loose, placing it on what he hoped was her shoulder.

"This _is_ your shoulder, right?"

"Yes. Lucky for you."

"This coming from _you?_ Your hand is-"

"Spare the details, Robin. I'm perfectly aware of where my hand is, and I'm not enjoying it…"

He snorted and thought for a bit, trying to work out where to go from here.

Then it hit him.

"Can't you just use your telekinesis to get us loose?" He asked, feeling stupid for not thinking of it immediately.

"No."

He blinked.

"Um, Raven… I'm not dead. That means you still have your powers."

"No, I mean… my emotions are not fully controlled. I'll just make it worse."

_Great. She's turned on too._

He caught that thought and was annoyed again.

_No, I am **not** turned on… I'm just in a very tricky situation and my body is absolutely loving it…_

He sighed heavily.

"So we're still stuck…"

"Looks like it…"

"Ok, well… let's try something else…"

"We're going to be here all night," Raven sighed.

He ignored that dread-inspiring thought and tried to move his legs; with it his whole lower body moved too and he ended up brushing _himself_ against Raven's hand instead of the other way around.

He froze, feeling as though someone had grabbed his innards and roughly tied them into a very tight knot.

Knowing that there was no way she could _not_ know now.

_Oh, damn. Damn damn damn damn **damn**… Bad Robin, bad bad bad… bad body, **stop** **it…**_

"_Robin_…" Raven said slowly.

"Yes, I _know_, Raven!"

She actually laughed.

"Still love being a guy?" She taunted.

"_Shut up!_"

He was hot with both anger and embarrassment and fuming with himself for diving on Raven. He should have _realised_ they'd get tangled up…

"Ok, Robin… just hold still, and I'll try to…" Raven didn't finish as she eased her free hand upwards and started to tug at the loose folds of material of her white cloak. He felt her haul some loose, freeing up a little of one wing.

"Hey, it's working!" He exclaimed. "Yeah, if you keep doing that…"

She tried to pull more free but it was tangled in the claws of his wings.

She sighed.

"Robin, this might work better if you're underneath," she told him. "I might be able to stand up and pull my cloak loose."

"Ok…"

"Good. Ok, when I say "three", we roll over."

Robin nodded.

"Right."

"Right, ready? One, two, _three_…"

They managed to flip over and the situation got a whole lot worse instead of better. Their lower bodies had now come into contact, and in Robin's present – and unfortunate – condition, had Raven's hand and their clothes not been separating them he would have been inside her. But that wasn't what Robin was concerned about any more. With Raven now on top, his hands were pushing up against her in the restricted room. Him being a boy, it didn't matter if her hands were on his chest; when the roles were reversed, it mattered a lot.

"Oh, this is just _peachy_…" Robin murmured dryly.

Raven made a little coughing sound.

"Robin, your hands are…"

"Yes, well, _your_ hand is…"

"Well, _move_ them!"

"_You_ move _yours!_ I'm in a worse state than you are!"

"True… Stop _grabbing_ them!"

"I'm not!" He spread his hands completely so that he couldn't be accused of having a sneaky feel. He couldn't move them as his elbows were now jammed against the ground, and he told her so heatedly.

"Fine, just don't grab at them," she responded equally hotly. She sighed heavily. "Jeez, the situations we get into, Robin. First the other night where I was trying to hold you still and it looked like something else, and now _this_…"

"The life of a Teen Titan; it's a thrill-a-minute…"

"Certainly seems to be for _you_…"

"Shut up. I'm not doing it on purpose. I can't _help_ it!"

"You're loving it, Robin… Admit it."

"I'm not. But _you're_ loving winding me up!"

"But of course."

She grinned although he couldn't see it in the dark.

He rested his head back on the soft grass and heaved a sigh.

"Let's just lie here then, yeah?" He said defeatedly. "Tangled up 'til morning when hopefully some will find us."

Raven became alert immediately.

"Robin, no!" She said sharply. "We'd get into so much trouble!"

He opened his eyes and lifted his head.

"What? Why?"

"Because…" Raven shifted uncomfortably, inducing an outburst from him to stop moving her hand.

She sighed. There had been that morning, of course; and she had gotten into trouble with Marcus _last_ night too, for going into Robin's room. Although she had saved his life, it didn't change the principal that she had gone in there. She had figured out what Marcus was implying and furiously denied it, but she was no more angry than the Vice-Head Senator himself. Marcus had lectured her on encouraging Robin in the state he was in, banged on and on about "absolutely-no-indulgences-ever-especially-not-the-"S"-word" and when she had protested he had taken it the wrong way and thought that she was implying that it was an unfair rule. That had started him off about _her_ then, being the daughter of Trigon and knowing that she herself was never allowed to indulge in such practices as it might open up gateways in her mind that could allow her father's influence to take over her and all the while she had been thinking "Bit late for _that_…" which had made Marcus even angrier because she wasn't even paying attention.

There were times when she wished Jonathon was Vice-Head Senator. She knew all of Marcus' points were perfectly valid but he was very narrow-minded and hadn't even allowed her to explain. She had consequently been banned from seeing Robin too, but had lied to the other Titans to stop them from worrying. And she had gone to see Robin anyway.

And now was in one hell of a situation.

She would not frighten him by voicing it aloud, but she knew that this could not possibly be helping him. He might have been adamant that he wasn't enjoying this, but his body wasn't listening to his voice of reason. He was… well, there was a lot more of him _down there_ than there had been before, every part of his anatomy that was pressed against her was taut and hot to the touch, she could feel his chest moving in deeper breaths than what would be usual, and _come on_; his hands were getting a pretty good deal there… Marcus and Jonathon had both _pressed _nothing sex-related, and now…

This couldn't be good for him. This was making it far worse, she realised with a sinking feeling. But she didn't say it, because it would panic him and he would squirm and wriggle in a desperate attempt to get loose and they would get even more stuck. They had more of a chance of getting free if he was calm, so she said nothing.

"Because you aren't supposed to be out at night," she fabricated. "Strict rule; you shouldn't be out by yourself."

"I'm _not_, as you'll have noticed…"

"Yes, I know… and we have to get loose. So…"

With a grunt she pulled her stuck hand out from where it was pushed against his crotch, which gave their lower bodies some more room.

"Ok, that's a start," she breathed. "And now you can't accuse me of molesting you…"

"You implying something there, Raven?" He muttered darkly, still aware of the position of his hands.

"Of course not," she replied innocently. She put both of her hands on his shoulders and worked her right leg free from being entangled with his, sliding her knee up over his pelvis and hips onto his stomach and pushing her torso from his hands.

"Oh, hey… air space!" He wriggled his fingers in the newfound room.

"Robin, shut up… if you put your hands on my leg and push upwards I might be able to stand up."

"Ok…"

He obliged and put all of his strength into pushing her upwards, moving one hand to her ribcage as he strained against the material that was holding her to him.

"_Come on_…" Raven murmured, pushing down on his shoulders. There was a few seconds of utter tautness; then the material ripped and Raven cried out in surprise as she was pitched backwards off Robin, landing a few feet away on the soft grass.

Robin sat up, rubbing his wrists to make sure they still worked. There were some strips of white material hooked and tangled in his wings. He breathed out heavily in relief.

"_Alright_, we're free…"

"_Finally_," Raven agreed.

She heard him shift in the darkness as he stood and walked off towards the edge of the island. The moons shone there, and she was clearly able to see him try to open his wings to fly. The material across them caught, and with a startled cry he fell flat on his face at the bank of the lake.

Laughing, she made her way over to him as he sat up.

"You won't get very far like that," she told him. She glanced quickly at his crotch, which was covered by his robe. She was betting he was still…

"And maybe you should wait until you're less… um… _excited_," she added.

He glared at her, his features picked out by the ghostly glow of the twin moons.

"Here." She ignored his murderous look as she moved behind him and started to untangle the strips of silky white fabric from his wings.

"There goes my new cloak," she sighed, holding one up in the moonlight.

"I'm sorry, Raven," he said mournfully. "It was a stupid thing to do…"

"Yes, it was."

She tugged the last bit free from his claws and held his shoulders to stop him from getting up again.

"Just sit here a minute, Robin. Calm down for a bit."

"I _am_ calm!"

"Well, _some_ of you isn't…"

He was quiet and she sat next to him at the edge of the lake.

"How are your wings now?" She questioned. "Still restless?"

He flexed his shoulders.

"Nope. They're fine now. You were right; they needed exercise."

Raven smiled faintly.

"You liked flying, didn't you?"

He turned to her and in the silver light she could see the grin on his face.

"Yeah, it was great!" He beamed. "I want to do it again!"

He started to get up and she pulled him back down again.

"Wait, wait… you can in a minute. Just centre yourself for a minute or two, calm down. You can deny it all you want, Robin; you got pretty worked up back there."

He shrugged and hugged his knees to his chest, looking out across the mirror-like lake at the glowing Senate House.

For a few moments silence reigned between them. Then;

"So… what are you, like, a princess or something?" He inquired offhandedly.

Raven shook her head, looking at the beautiful building too.

"No, I believe I have already told you that," she said softly. "I am merely the daughter of the senator Arella and the demon Trigon."

"Sounds like one happy marriage," Robin murmured dryly.

"Right, real happy…" Raven peered very hard at him. "I don't know why I want to tell you this, Robin, but I do."

"Maybe 'cause I lost my parents," he said with a shrug. "I dunno. Maybe it really _is_ like calls to like."

"Maybe. Look, my mother is originally from Earth, from Gotham City. Her name was Angela Roth and when she was seventeen she ran away from home. She was homeless and alone, so she joined a church cult formed by worshippers of Trigon. She didn't know that then, but they promised her the love and family she had always craved, as her own parents had never loved her. But… it was all a trap and she was used as a host for Trigon's seed during a summoning ritual; he raped her and impregnated her with his child."

"_You_," Robin breathed.

"Right. _Me_." Raven sighed. "She ran away from the church that night and tried to commit suicide, but nothing she tried would work. And then, hours after, senators from Azarath – I do not know which ones – came for her and brought her here to Azarath. She was given a new name, Arella, so that Trigon wouldn't be able to find her. Arella means "messenger angel" in Azarathian and it is a translation of _Azar_, which was the name of the goddess who liberated Azarath many hundreds of years ago."

Robin was nodding silently, a concerned frown on his face.

"Guess that's all to tell," Raven sighed. "Nine months and a very painful birth later, I was born. My mother has never been allowed to bond with me so that I cannot feel love towards her. I have never loved anyone, except for _you_, Robin, and even _that_ was pretty short-lived."

He made a little coughing noise, remembering that hot summer night in his room with Starfire…

"Yeah, well, that was _my_ fault," he muttered. "I was a jerk…"

"Mm. I mean, I _like_ people, but it's not the same. Nobody has ever been allowed to express feelings of love towards me and I was always taught to keep my emotions under control, partly because my powers are controlled by them, but also because all those feelings you and the others take granted – fear, joy, sadness, anger, frustration, love, hate – are all exploitable by my father's influence."

"But you feel them, Raven," Robin said quietly. "I know you do. You yell at us when we annoy you, you cry and you laugh and you have fun with us, you were afraid that night we watched "Wicked Scary"… and you _did_ love me, Raven, just for a little while…"

"It's better now," Raven agreed softly. "Now that I am older my mind and body are stronger and I am able to feel these things because I can exercise control over them. But even so, I have to be careful. If I were ever to give in to the influence of my father's blood in my veins, the results would be unthinkable…"

"But you won't, Raven. I know you won't. You're stronger than that."

Raven shrugged and looked away from him.

"Only time will tell," she murmured. She looked at him. "What about you?" She asked, changing the subject swiftly.

"Sorry?"

"Your background, before you were adopted by Bruce Wayne. None of us really know all that much about you, at least not the _real_ you. The man behind the mask."

"Bruce never adopted me," Robin corrected. "I'm his ward. I mean, I _was_. I mean, I still _am_, legally, but I don't live with him anymore, so technically I'm _not_."

"How did you end up with him? I know your parents were killed in a trapeze accident, but-"

"It wasn't an accident," Robin interrupted icily.

Raven blinked.

"What?"

"They were killed as a warning by a gang leader called Boss Zucco to the circus owner Pop Haley to pay up protection fees. I was supposed to be killed too, but I wasn't on the trapeze when it gave. I was down in the ring and I had to watch them fall all that way to the ring floor…"

His voice was utterly emotionless; he gazed blankly across the lake as he spoke.

"I don't remember very much of that night. I remember one of the roustabouts putting his jacket around me and holding me to his chest and just telling me not to look, but I had already seen them and it was horrible… Everywhere was just in utter chaos and nobody really knew what they were supposed to be doing. I remember one of the ring girls taking me back to our trailer and tucking me in, and even as I lay there I couldn't cry. I guess I didn't really believe that they were dead, I mean… I was only eight years old."

Raven gasped.

"Only _eight?_" She repeated in a horrified whisper. "Oh, Robin…"

He sighed and lowered his head to his knees.

"Yeah, only eight. I don't know how I slept that night, but the next day there were policemen everywhere doing inquiries, and in the middle of it all some lady from the Gotham Welfare Society showed up and said she had to take me away. Pop Haley put up one hell of a fight but he had to let me go in the end and she took me away to Gotham City's Youth Center." He breathed another heavy sigh. "I got absolutely _murdered_ there. Most of the kids there were about six or seven years older than me, some even older than that, right up to eighteen, and most of them were in there for committing "adult" crimes. I didn't know how to fight then; all I could do were acrobatics, and even then they could only save me so much. I used to get beaten to a pulp almost every day because I was smaller and younger than the rest of them. Some days I thought I was going to die, it was so bad."

"And then what? Did Bruce come to your rescue?"

"No. I think those morons figured out I was going to be killed if they didn't get me out, so they sent me to an orphanage run by nuns."

"And was it any better?"

"What, the penguin house? Yeah, much. At least they were kind to you. There was one in particular who took a shine to me. She was called Sister Mary Elizabeth. I was sad to leave her, but then Bruce came and signed to be my legal guardian and the rest is history."

Raven couldn't help gazing sadly at him as he finished speaking.

"I didn't realise you were so young," she said softly. Robin shrugged.

"What are you gonna do? You can't change the past…"

"Do you still miss them?"

"Of course I do. Bruce misses his too, even after all these years. I guess that's maybe why he took a liking to me, because he could identify with me. I'm pretty sure he was even younger than _I_ was. And when I saw your mom for the first time last night… jeez, Raven, she looks like _my_ mom."

Raven blinked.

"Does she?"

"Uh-huh. I mean, she looks like _you_ too, but it's her hair and her face and just… _everything_…"

"My mother was right, though," Raven countered. "Perhaps it makes sense for your mother to look like mine, because mine said that you look Azarathian, and she's right; you _do_."

"No I don't."

"You do. I noticed it last night. Your hair and your skin and your eyes and your whole frame… I don't know why it's true, but it is."

He looked at her for a second, then got onto his knees and leaned over the still surface of the lake to look at his reflection.

"I can't see it."

Raven's reflection appeared beside his own.

"Look harder."

He knelt back.

"What is this, _The Lion King?_"

She grinned.

"As if _we_ would rip off Disney movies…" **(1)**

He smiled wryly and got to his feet and went for a wander off back into the dark canopy of trees. Raven got up and went after him.

"Robin? Where are you going?"

"Nowhere!" He called back. She clicked her tongue as she lost sight of him again. He was wandering around in his bare feet too, and while he wasn't likely to walk on a broken bottle in Azarath, there were plenty of thorny rosebushes around. She could have thought of a million better things to do with her time than pulling thorns out of Robin's toes.

She looked back across the lake at the Senate House. She knew one of the senators – probably Marcus – would be checking up on Robin soon to see if he was ok. That same Vice-Head Senator would go mad if he found Robin missing, which he _would_ if she didn't get Robin back into his room ASAP.

"Robin!" She called. "Come on! We have to go back now!"

He had pulled another disappearing act and she could feel that feeling of apprehension returning as she scouted for him. Why did he keep doing this?…

"Robin, jump on me again and you're _dead_," she said loudly.

Nothing.

She came to the largest willow, a few feet from the edge of the lake. She leaned against it and closed her eyes, trying to focus on his life-force so that she could sense where he was. Seconds later she felt his hands on her shoulders as he sneaked up behind her.

"Raven, why does Azarath have two moons?" He inquired, his mouth right next to her ear. She reached up and put her hands on top of his.

"I don't know, but they each have names. They are called _Metrion_ and _Zinthos_."

"Aren't those…?"

"The last two words of my incantation." She smiled in the darkness. "Yes, they are."

"_Azarath Metrion Zinthos_…" He murmured. "Always _did_ wonder what the hell you were on about."

"Well, now you know."

He squeezed her shoulders.

"This is nice. It's so beautiful here. You know, compared to Gotham."

"Well, Gotham is… _gothic_…"

"Mmm. Don't I know it."

"We should go back, Robin, before you get into trouble."

"In a minute…"

She felt his silk-clad arms slide right across her shoulders.

"You're so beautiful, Raven…"

A strange sensation went through her. He had never, _ever_ said that before…

"Robin, I don't know what's got into you, but _no_."

"No _what?_" He asked innocently. She could feel him breathing on her neck as he spoke. He was so close to her and she could feel her own heart thudding in her chest. She _liked_ it, liked his closeness, the feeling of his warm breath on her jugular.

But _why?_ Why suddenly now? This was an old feeling, her love for Robin, and he had ruined it two months ago by getting greedy and deciding he liked Starfire too. Why… she didn't even like to think it… why was it coming _back_?…

"Just… _everything_," she said firmly. She tried to push his arms from her shoulders.

"I'm not doing anything," he protested.

"No, not _yet_ you aren't…"

He turned her to face him, still with his arms around her shoulders.

"Raven, I would never, _ever_ make you do anything you didn't want to," he whispered, pressing his forehead to hers. He could feel the jewel pressing into his skin, just as she could feel his soft hair tickling her own forehead.

"You know that," he continued. His voice was so soft, so gentle… how could she have ever thought he would hurt her?

_Because he's **possessed**_…

But he was alright at the moment. She looked at him in the silver light and shadows… he was so unearthly, something almost demonic in himself, his possession aside. In the moonlight he looked like some kind of mystical being, a hybrid… a fairy child half-bred with something else to give him the wings he bore instead of the traditional shimmering gossamer ones. He was so compelling this way, somehow beyond his roots of being American, of being a circus boy, far more than even the child of the Batman. Somehow one of her own…

"Robin, we can't…" she said weakly, trailing off.

"We can't _what?_" There was no trace of any kind of expression on his icy-pale face.

"You know…"

"No, I _don't_ know."

"Robin, let go of me."

He released her and she stepped back from him.

"Robin, we _can't_." She allowed her ripped white cloak to fall over her dress.

"I don't follow you."

"Yes you do. Don't act dumb, Robin; it annoys me."

"I'm not acting dumb. I don't understand. I wasn't _doing_ anything."

"No, you were… just the way you were touching me… I don't know what you meant by it, but…"

She trailed off once again, confusing herself as she was.

"I… I'm sorry…" He brushed his soft hair from his masked eyes. "I just… you _are_ beautiful, Raven…"

He reached out for her and she stepped out of his range.

"Robin, stop it."

It was unlike him to act like this. Even during their "relationship" – or "torrid love affair" as he sarcastically put it – he had not acted this way, never been so _seductive_, if that was the correct term. Well, no. He wasn't seducing her as such, but he was still melting her heart. He was so in earnest, and suddenly more attractive to her than he had ever been before, and she doubted it was solely the wings or the hair or the fact that he was only wearing two items of clothing. She didn't know why he was behaving like this, or why she was falling for it, but it was happening. She could only hope that he didn't draw her to him once more, because if he did, she knew she would not have the resolve to push him away again.

Which was the bummer, of course. She was the daughter of Trigon, forbidden to express emotion, not even supposed to know how love _felt_. And Robin…

He was the Avenger, the one sworn by the prophecy to save the world from total annihilation at the hand of Slade. He was possessed by a demon because of that birthright, and not handling it well. He was supposed to be kept in solitude, cut off from any kind of familiarity, or indeed recreation, on hiatus in response to any kind of sexual pleasure. They were all rules laid down for the sole purpose of saving him from the demon devouring him from within, and here, the two of them were breaching them.

She could not even begin to imagine, then, how forbidden such unbridled passion would be.

But even in the knowledge of this, she could not resist him. The thought that he could die did not deter her, nor did it seem to deter _him_.

And even in response to _that_… he had been homosexually raped. He hated to be touched. He had nightmares about it. How he could even bring himself to pull her to his form after that was a mystery; how he could want to touch her when he was so deeply scarred.

She gazed at him for a very long time, watching his utter lack of movement. He was barely breathing, simply returning her gaze with the deep azure eyes (which she had seen only once before) that were concealed beneath the black and white of his mask.

She went to him herself, unable to stand it any longer. She slipped her arms around his shoulders, feeling the silk of his robe against her bare skin. He wrapped his own arms around her waist, and waited for a few seconds before touching his mouth to hers. She stopped him.

"Your mask," she whispered. "Take it off…"

He blinked.

"Sorry?"

"Take it off. Let me see your eyes…"

"You've seen them before. Remember I took it off for you? That one time, because-"

"I want to see them again. I want to see the real you; I want to see _Dick Grayson_."

"It's too dark," he protested weakly.

"Take it off."

He debated it for a few seconds, then put his hand to his face and pulled it off.

They were unveiled to her again and she almost melted; never had she seen such a beautiful shade of blue. His eyes were large, delicately-shaped, and a brilliant deep azure blue that looked like blades of ice and liquid fire rolled into one. They were the sky and the sea and sapphires and that deep lagoon of dreams that must surely exist — all fused together and she noticed that they were not one shade but several, melted together yet clear as water; and they sparkled with an ecstatic expectancy as he waited her verdict to befall him once again. One of those dark eyebrows was raised while the other was cut into a semi-frown; and a vague little smirk played across his mouth. Once again she could feel herself melting into him; drowning in the deep blue pools of mystery and familiarity that were his eyes…

"_Happy_ now?" He murmured, drawing her dangerously close.

She smiled; but said nothing. She was transfixed – as once before, following the "Joker Incident" – by them, because she had never seen anything quite like them. They were innocent yet deep and moody and a strange-but-perfect contrast to his jet-black hair.

Just the thought that he was hiding nothing made her feel better…

It made it feel _right_.

* * *

Hope you liked the OTT description of Robin's eyes! It's the first and only time in any of my on-my-own/co-written-with-Narroch06 fics on the site you will see it. I haven't written Robin with his mask off before or since…

Okaaay… There is a RobinxRaven lemon scene next chapter! Honest! The first lemon I ever wrote! Well, I call it a lemon. It might be a lime. Whatever; it pretty graphic. I think you're gonna like it…

But first, let me explain a few things that _may_ have brought you up short if you are not familiar with the _New Teen Titans/DC_ incarnations of these characters:

**The Origin of Robin** – The thing about Robin being in the Gotham orphaned kids dumping ground, and then at an orphanage run by nuns… well, they're both "true" but not consistent. In _Robin Year One_, the newly-orphaned Dick Grayson was indeed chucked into Gotham City's Youth Centre, where he was beaten to a pulp by the nasty big kids, before being rescued by one Bruce Wayne. However, in _Batman Year Three_, which is older, 8 year old Dick was shown to be put into Gotham Rectorial Orphanage, otherwise known as St Jude's, where he made friends with a nun named Sister Mary Elizabeth. He was then, of course, snapped up by Bruce. So yes, both true, but not harmonic as such, so I simply put them together.

**The Origin of Raven** – Yes indeedy, all true yet again. The back story of Raven – or rather, Raven's mother – was chronicled first in the _New Teen Titans_ 1982 mini-series, which gave the backgrounds of the then-new characters (Starfire, Cyborg, Raven and Changeling/Beast Boy) and then more recently in the newest DC incarnation of _Teen Titans_ - but not the _Teen Titans Go!_ comics - one-shot, aptly titled _The Origin of Raven_. It told the tale of Raven's mother, Angela Roth – later Arella – and how she came to give birth to such a weird daughter. The answer, in a word, is "Trigon".

**(1): **_Teen Titans_ ripping off a Disney movie? Perish the thought! Seriously; watch _Betrayal_. Terra comes to Beast Boy's window and asks him if he wants to come out; she is standing on a floating rock. She holds out her hand to him and asks "Do you trust me?". Straight out of _Aladdin_! When you've watched that bit, then watch _Aladdin_; that part where Aladdin, in the guise of Price Ali, asks Princess Jasmine if she'd like to go for a ride on the magic carpet. It's exactly the same line, done in exactly the same way. Go watch it if you don't believe me… _Rip-off artists_… Pretty funny, though…

You want that damn lemon? You'd better let me hear about it!

- RobinRocks xXx


	20. Forbidden Love

This chapter: My first ever lemon/lime (delete as applicable – I am not sure what you would call this) what I ever wrote! Forget _Small Print_. Forget _Love Over Gold_ (both written with Narroch06, end of plug). Forget _Ultimately_. Forget _Winner Take All_ and _Underneath Your Clothes_ and _Lace and Leather _and _The Thing_ and _Nor Would It Be The Last. **This** _is the first ever proper sexual scene I ever wrote; it's a little over a year old, and although I have fixed it up a little, it's pretty much the same text, so be kind…

Also this chapter: RAVEN. IS. OOC.

There is a very good reason for this which will be explained a little later on. Just no-one flame saying she's OOC, okay? I _KNOW_ she is… Robin is _kinda_ OOC too, but not too much… **Plus** _everything_ that happens between them in this chapter is for a _reason_…

Just a few notes concerning the two fics that came before this storyline; _Lost in Ecstasy_ and _Robin Goes to Hollywood_. If you skipped over the note (concerning these storylines) I put in _Asylum_ – it's the "chapter" entitled _For Yami no Kaiba_ – then you're probably gonna have to go back and read it. Basically I wrote two other _TT_ fics that came before this story (hoping you've read _Asylum_ too at this point) and due to having a sucky computer that kept blowing up (no exaggeration; it was a _really bad_ computer) they got lost. I have printed-out copies but not the saved computer documents. Anyway… in _Lost in Ecstasy_ there was a very strong element of RobinxRaven (it was to her in this particular fic that Robin lost his virginity, hence the pointlessness of Slade raping him) and basically it started right before Poison Ivy showed up to wreak havoc (Robin also had it off with _her_, but this is _Poison Ivy_ we're talking about and it was part of a plan to lure Batman to her anyway…). They were "together" for the whole fic, but then in the sequel, _Robin Goes to Hollywood_, Robin got a bit greedy and two-timed Raven with Starfire. That's all you need to know; I know that seemed pointless but hopefully that will make things a little clearer when you read the below chapter.

And I got ELEVEN reviews for the last chapter! Thankyou! I think that's most I've had yet for a chapter of _Black Magic/Asylum_! So, to: **YamiTai** (_more_ trouble for Robin? Perish the thought! And yeah, WB totally ripped that scene off _Aladdin_ – check out _Betrothed_ too, actually. "Princess" Starfire's balcony looks exactly like Princess Jasmine's. Serious!); **Ravenrox10** (dude! Your pen-name is like mine! RobinRocks, Ravenrox… almost… _wowww_… how awesome is _that?_ :P); **Quinn and His Quill** (I assure you, this is one lemon you don't wanna be sucking… And _please!_ Likening Robin to Tom Cruise is just _insulting_ – Robin isn't a _Scientologist_…); **Daybreak25** (you're Mickeykins for _real_ now? Okay then… Yes, _Nightwing_ comics are cool; I am the proud owner of **all six issues** of _Nightwing: Year One_! And c'mon… I know _you_, of _all_ people, are gonna _love_ this RobinxRaven chapter…); **Thrillzone** (I heard about the trailer for _Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo_, but as we haven't even seen Season **FIVE** here in Britain… I mean, come on… But yes! I read on the _TitansGo_ website about Robin apparently being arrested… hmm, gotta wonder what he did… But don't be blaming me for associating Robin with jail just because of _Asylum_… or because he is jailbait… XP); **ravenrogue19 **(is it **BAD** for Robin to be sexually active? Yes indeedy it is! Why do you ask…? _Heh heh heh_…); **Kougraness** (nope, the senators are **NOT** going to be happy… _if_ they find out…); **Narroch06** (you and your damn archetypes! _I_ have a habit of unwittingly writing them and _you_ have a habit of picking them out… Glad you liked the OTT eye-description and the "Twister/petting"… XD Next part from the dream? You mean the **RAPE**? You'll just have to wait and see, won't you…?); **Rocky-White Wolf of Curses** (I _did_ actually read a little of your fic _My Life Just Turned Insane_ but I got confused because you _seemed_ to be a girl but then you started going on about slash… Plus there was a lot of American words and stuff and I was kinda… outta my depth so I bailed out with my Made-in-Britain water-wings…); **Peace215** (the icing on the cake? Oh, yeah; you're a RobinxRaven girl, aren't ya? I couldn't remember whether you'd reviewed _this_ or _Lace and Leather_ – I'm glad you liked that too! Thanks for the review – _soooo_ you get this lemon… "Very cool yet hot"; yes, I suppose that's an oxymoron of sorts…); **Me** (again… which isn't _me_ as in _RobinRocks_ but someone who _calls_ themselves "Me" meaning "them"… but to them it is "Me"… it's all very confusing. Can't you just tell me your _real_ pen-name? It would make kissing your ass in author notes a _lot_ easier… Star walking in on them? Maybe… maybe not…); and to **Seductive Angel** and **Phoenix Skyborne**, who didn't review presumably because they haven't caught up yet (or maybe they just hate me…) but I want them to feel loved anyway… Unfortunately poor Seductive Angel has to read about her "Pookie" getting it on with someone else…

Life's a bitch, huh?

Forbidden Love

_Juliet, when we made love, you used to cry,_

_You said "I love you like the stars above, I'll love you 'til I die";_

_There's a place for us, you know the movie song…_

_When you gonna realise it was just that the time was wrong, Juliet?_

**Dire Straits** – _Romeo and Juliet_

…Drawing Robin to her slim glowing form, Raven did not stop his kiss this time. In the few short months since they had shared their first kiss outside his bedroom door marking the beginning of Poison Ivy's storm upon Jump City, he had become quite accomplished at the art. Of course, he'd had plenty of practice, what with making out with practically everyone going. Ivy, Starfire, Raven herself, Terra – and she didn't know it, but _Slade_ too, for petesakes, if _that_ was anything to go by…

She took the mask from his hand as she melted into him. She could not remember ever having her thirst quenched so wholly as this; she did not ever want him to let her go. As long as he held her, the world was at peace, everything was alright. Maybe it was because it was so forbidden that it was more pleasurable – she didn't know, nor did she care. It didn't matter if he was human or monster – as it had become difficult to tell – as long as he held her.

He broke it abruptly and blew a tuft of hair from his eyes. His arms were still around her but when she tried to reseal the kiss he turned his head to the side and she kissed his cheek instead.

"You're right," he said breathlessly. "We can't. We _shouldn't_…"

"Forget what I said. I was wrong." She started to devour his neck.

"Raven, we _can't_ do this…"

The sane part of his brain was fighting back against whatever was driving him, and it was determined to win. If it slacked for a second or two, the chain of thought that took over comprised mostly of telling him to do precisely what he wasn't allowed to. He knew it was the demonic possession; it had taken him over for a few minutes back there, when he had made a go for Raven and kissed her. He couldn't allow it to win him over, he just _couldn't_, because if he gave in it would make the affliction all the worse; he might not be able to shake it off at all and he would be killed, point blank.

But it was becoming so hard, so difficult to push away. He was human, he was 16, and he was male. Even _without_ the demon it would have been hard for him to draw a line. _Now_ it was practically impossible. He could feel Raven against him, her arms around his shoulders, her hands resting on his wings, which gave him some weird kind of detached pleasure. She was practically eating him alive, so desperately and passionately was she kissing his neck. She was only making it harder for him.

"Raven, _please_…" He took his mask back from her hand. The mask was a shadow, a barrier that he could take refuge behind. By taking it off he revealed all; by putting it back on he became a solitaire.

"Raven, _stop_." He managed to push her off and replaced his mask.

"Robin…"

"_No_, Raven. You were right. I'm sorry… I shouldn't have started this."

"I'm glad you did." She tried to take him back into her arms. "I've longed for you ever since we "broke up". Since you… with Starfire, you…"

"Two-timed you. Kissed her. Made out with her on my bed."

"Yeah, and I… I only just realised it now, but I've _wanted_ you so badly…"

This wasn't her. There was something wrong with _her_ too. Raven didn't talk like this. Raven was sane; sensible. Not a slave to her emotions; least of all _love_.

This wasn't _right_…

"We _can't_." He ducked backwards from her reach. "We aren't allowed. We'd get into so much trouble…"

"You're such a _good boy_," she mocked him, her eyes hooding.

"I'm _not_," he protested. "It's just… Marcus said… and then, with Slade… I just… I couldn't, I mean, I _can't_… _we_ _can't_… And _you_, you're all… don't you _understand?_"

"What are you implying, Robin?"

"Well… one thing leads to another, and…"

She seemed amused now.

"Who said anything about _that?..._"

"No-one… but last time… that first time, in your room… I mean…"

He looked at the dark ground.

"Raven, I'm possessed by an "indulgence demon". It's kind of inevitable. I really don't want to… you know, _hurt_ you."

"Oh." Her violet eyes widened; his vision came into her head. Had the Robin in that dream, or vision, or whatever it had been… truly been _raping_ her? But he didn't… he couldn't _remember_ it—

So was it just a _feeling_ that he had?

"_Oh_."

He turned away from her, wrapping arms around himself in a sense of security.

"So… you know… perhaps you should go…" He looked over his shoulder past his wing at her. "I _want_ you to go. Pretend this never happened… and… I'm sorry…"

"I'm not going anywhere, Robin."

He looked away, up at the twin moons above through the canopy of trees.

"Raven…"

"I'm not leaving you."

She was behind him again and she slipped her arms around his shoulders. She laid her head on his back between his wings.

"I'm sorry, Robin…"

"Sorry for what? _I'm_ the one who should be sorry…"

"I'm sorry I cannot do as you wish. I can't forget this, nor can I just leave. I'm sorry, Robin, I… I love you. I never stopped."

"You _can't!_" He was near-hysterical. "Don't you _get_ it?"

He didn't turn to her; he was frozen to the spot. He was panicked now; because they were on a slippery-slope. He could feel himself losing control to the demon inside him, and he didn't know what was wrong with Raven but _she_ didn't seem to be in control of the situation either.

"Robin, I'm sorry…" She sounded near tears, and indeed, he could feel a little wetness being absorbed into his silk robe where she laid her head. "I don't know why I do, and I don't know why I can't stop. I wish I could. I wish I had never _started_, but I cannot help it. You are the only thing I have ever loved, and I don't know why it happened, but it _did_, and I can't just switch it off. I love you, and I know I always will. It is something I cannot control, something that will never die, never rest."

Spouting a _monologue_; how un-Raven-like…

"But it's _forbidden_." He sounded desperate as he turned to her. "It always _has_ been, _way_ before I was possessed. You're the daughter of a _demon_, you've already said-"

"_Romeo and Juliet_," Raven whispered, interrupting him.

"I have no intentions of _dying_, thanks very much," he responded stiffly. "And _you_, you shouldn't even-"

She smiled and in the moonlight he could see the tears shining in her amethyst eyes. Her arms moved to around his neck and she buried her face in his shoulder.

"I love you like the stars above, Robin, and I always will," she breathed, still crying but smiling as she said the words. "I'll love you until the day that I die…"

"Don't…" he said weakly.

Because he _was_ weakening.

"I can't help it. I love you, Robin. You made me angry and upset when you betrayed me for Starfire, and sometimes I hate her when I see how she clings to you, how she cuddles up to you when we are watching a movie. I shouldn't – she's my friend – but sometimes I can't help it. But even then, I can't stop loving you. I can blame you, and I can tell myself that you're a jerk, and I can _believe_ it, but I can't _hate_ you. I wish I could, because then it might be easier, but I can't. Sometimes it frightens me because I am unable to control it, and sometimes I think that there is something _forcing_ me to love you, but either way, I can't stop."

Another monologue.

She really _was_ crying now and he felt awful. He also felt a bit wet from where her tears were soaking through his bathrobe.

"Raven, please don't cry…" He put his arms around her slight form, unable to think of anything else to do.

He frowned. He had only just noticed, but… he was suddenly taller than her. Not by much. Just a few inches, maybe. But still, a few inches in less than a day was a _lot_. Last night he had been the same height as her, as he was always. Now he was bigger than her. And he—

Raven looked up, wiping her face with her long white cloak.

"I can't help crying," she sniffled. "It's so _unfair_… I _want_ you. I love you; you understand, you listen… it's not _fair_…"

"No, it _isn't_…"

Their eyes met, hers huge and sad and wet with tears. She kissed him again and his resolve melted. He could no longer fight. He had crossed the line; they both had.

And this time there was no going back.

Consciousness faded into desire as she encompassed him in her grip, the contours of his form beneath the smooth silk satisfying her touch. Her kiss grew more lascivious as her want for him mounted, her lips drawing fire from his. She suddenly couldn't seem to get enough of him, even as she touched him so desperately. Every movement of her hands left her wanting more from him. She loved him, she wanted him, she _needed_ him, and no rules laid down by Azarath were going to stand in her way, and neither, it seemed, _his_. He was more responsive and confident than he had ever been before, his fingers sliding over her curves clothed in white silk similar to his robe. In one sense they were each getting the same pleasure; in another sense, it was completely different.

It was forbidden. It was wrong. It was dangerous.

Neither of them cared.

Neither action nor consequence had any meaning anymore.

It was, as Robin had said, inevitable.

He sank to the soft dark grass and pulled her with him. She collapsed on top of him and wrapped herself around him, clinging to him all the while in case - heaven forbid - she should accidentally let him out of her grip for even a second. His wings were moving underneath him restlessly, and the same could be said for his whole form as he wriggled beneath her. He seemed incapable of keeping still, even though his attention was on ravenously kissing her as though he hadn't eaten for days.

She decided to remedy it.

She pulled away from his kiss and focused on his face instead, her kisses falling like stars to Earth upon his forehead, his cheek, his chin, the tip of his nose, and then she moved to his throat and began to devour it again. He simply lay there on the grass, his wings spread out underneath him, and let her get on with it. It seemed stupid, really, to protest, to fight back. It was going to happen anyway. It was inevitable.

He didn't even try to stop her when she slid down slightly and untied the silk tie-cord of his robe. It fell back, baring his whole body bar his arms, which still occupied the sleeves as it blanketed beneath him. She put her hands on his thighs and ran her hands upwards, over his white silk shorts, over his stomach and onto his chest. He breathed in sharply as she did so and she smiled in the moonlight.

He didn't know why, but he was starting to feel a bit dizzy. He also felt utterly helpless in Raven's power. He was _not_ the one in charge here, that much was obvious. He might have started it, but Raven was certainly going to _finish_ it, and if it left him half-dead, than so be it.

She showered him with searing kisses, moving downwards from neck to waist, the flavour of his skin savourable. He smelt sweet and pleasant from the bath he had taken not long before she had gone to see him and she breathed him in as her lips touched his naval. His stomach contracted slightly and he actually moved as she kissed him there, sitting up a tiny bit.

"_Ivy_," he murmured. Raven frowned, lifting her head from his stomach, then remembered. Poison Ivy had, of course, kissed him right there and poisoned him, nearly killing him.

"_I'm_ not Ivy," she whispered, a little put out. He opened his masked eyes and smiled.

"You're as beautiful as her."

She didn't know how to answer him. She did not think of herself as beautiful; Starfire was prettier than she was. And _Poison Ivy?…_ Easily the most beautiful – _green_ – woman she had ever seen, that including movie stars and models. And yet Robin was comparing _her_ – Raven, the daughter of Trigon – to the late villainess?… Robin, and even _Batman_, would have been out of their pants faster than you could say "Holy Ayatollah!" if Ivy had chosen to seduce them that way. Ivy's spell was unbreakable.

And so, for Robin to say that to her… it really _was_ a compliment, even if it wasn't true. Raven knew she could never be as beautiful as Poison Ivy. But for Robin to say it… she loved him even more.

But she still did not know how to answer him, how to thank him with the gratitude she truly felt.

Perhaps she could _show_ him instead…

She started to kiss his thighs, caressing him with hands of velvet. He really couldn't keep still now, and she smiled at the power she – and the fact that he was male – exercised over him. Then she moved in and kissed his crotch; felt it swell a little beneath the delicate touch of her lips, and he panted and squirmed and begged her to do it again, breathless and his words all strung together so that she could barely make sense of them.

She smiled still; he was so hopeless. One kiss – in the right place, of course – and Mr Do-as-I-say-because-I'm-in-charge became reduced to _this_. The team leader lost his sense of leadership and suddenly became putty in her hands.

So why not have some more fun?

She took hold of the waistband of his white shorts and started to remove them.

He sat up immediately.

"What are you doing?" He demanded, taking hold of her wrist. He was shaking his head as he said it, his soft fringe brushing back and forth across his forehead as he did so.

"Lie back, Robin."

"_Uh-uh_. What are you doing?" He repeated.

"Lie back, Robin." She pushed him back down this time.

"Raven, I don't—"

"Shut up, Robin."

He lay back and was quiet, instead looking up at the stars and twin moons, Metrion and Zinthos. He knew perfectly well what she was going to do, and he was slightly apprehensive, not sure whether he wanted her to or not. He didn't know what to expect, either. The first, last and only time he and Raven had… well, they hadn't endorsed in this kind of thing. To be blunt, they had literally screwed each other's brains out and fallen asleep still intertwined. And nothing like it had ever happened since. It was dangerous.

Forbidden.

He was naked now but for his silk robe, which was hardly covering him. He didn't know if it was apprehension or impatience, but his stomach felt tight, as though it had been tied in knots. He didn't know why he was letting this happen, but he wanted it. Even the rape, now almost two weeks ago, seemed like a dream.

But he still felt sort of sick. He couldn't remember ever feeling so helpless.

Raven parted his thighs and he could feel her breathing on him…

"Raven, I don't want you to do this," he said, sitting up again.

"You'll _love_ it, Robin. Now lie back."

"How do _you_ know? Raven—"

He interrupted himself with a low, shuddering groan as she did it anyway. He lay back of his own accord and writhed like a fish out of water on the grass. His wings fluttered violently and his hands came onto his stomach, his fingers flexing and spreading as his chest and even his abdominal muscles heaved with the effort of breathing.

She was right; he _did_ love it.

"_Ohmygod_, Raven… you're right, _ohmygod_… don't stop… I just… please don't stop… do it until you _kill_ me…"

In fact, he loved it so much, he wasn't even talking sense.

He was really thrashing around though, and she withdrew and looked up at him, her hands still on his thighs.

"_No no no no no_… you _stopped!_" He wailed. His breathing was ragged as he said it, and she could hear the despair in his voice. "You have to do it _more_… you have to suck me off some more now, ok?"

His voice sounded breezy and careless, as though he was telling her to go order a pizza instead of the far more intimate thing he was demanding; it almost made her laugh.

"Come _on_, Raven." He spread his legs almost into the splits in the hope that it would entice her into pleasuring him again.

"Fine, but stop writhing like a dying snake," she reprimanded him irritably. "You keep hitting me with your knees and it _hurts_."

He nodded and closed his eyes as she gave him what he wanted. His hands were spread out on the long grass and he ripped lumps of it up, separating the emancipated blades between his fingers and scattering them back onto the ground. He started writhing again and his moans grew and although she loved the sound of them – that lovely voice groaning in ecstasy instead of squawking "Titans Go!" like a broken record – she began to become afraid that he would really let himself go and scream and give them away.

She didn't like to think of the consequences for both of them if they were caught in the middle of this. _Kissing_ was one thing…

He moaned very loudly and bucked his hips and she immediately spat him out and slapped her hand over his mouth in panic.

"Be quiet, Robin, _please_," she begged in a hushed voice. "You'll get us into trouble…"

He gave a tiny tortured moan and opened his masked eyes.

"_Raven_…" he whined desperately as she took her hand from his lips.

"Be quiet, Robin," she murmured, kneeling back. She began to massage the insides of his thighs and he made another mewling sound. "You have to _be quiet_…"

"Raven, _stop_… please, you're _torturing_ me…"

She looked up at him and peered very hard at him.

"You want me to _stop?_" Her hand trailed dangerously near her new object of affection.

"No!" He shook his head violently. "I want you to… to…"

"Do it again?"

He nodded this time, exhaling heavily.

"I'll be quiet… I promise I won't make another sound… do it again, you _have_ to…"

"You like it, don't you?"

He smiled.

"I _love_ it."

She obliged and he was as good as his word, trying to keep still as he felt that pleasant ecstasy poisoning his mind. His heart was beating so fast it felt as though he was going to have a heart-attack, he was light-headed but pleasantly so, and now his hands were in Raven's silky violet hair as she licked and sucked him. He was glad she had gone against his wishes, at any rate. It really was all he could do to stop himself from squirming too much with sheer pleasure.

She stopped eventually and he opened his eyes to see she was frowning.

"What?" He sat up and closed his parted legs.

She looked up at him, only seeing a little of him in the moonlight.

"Nothing happened." She sounded confused rather than disappointed.

"What do you mean?"

"You didn't… this sounds crass… you didn't _come_."

"Disappointed?"

"No. Just… I don't know… it doesn't seem _normal_. It's a reflex action."

"Well, I wouldn't _know_ if it's normal or not. I've never actually been sucked off before…"

"Don't you ever jerk off?"

He blinked, remembering that afternoon…

"What kind of weird question is _that_?" He asked breezily, playing it off, he thought rather successfully.

"Well, surely you must… I mean, when you… You…"

"Alright, alright, I get it. Yes, I have, if that's what you mean. I've had the wet sheets in the past to prove it. But I've never… _you know_…"

"This is a strange conversation, actually. We don't usually talk about stuff like this."

Robin shrugged.

"Maybe it's all this fresh air. Guess you get used to breathing in toxic city fumes 24/7…"

He pulled her to him without another word as he sank back to the ground. He was so warm to the touch, but not sweaty; in fact, the heat he was radiating didn't seem normal, especially as in the light of the twin moons he looked as though his skin was comprised of ice. He was bigger too, his whole body; she could feel it as she ran her hands over his form again. He usually had such a slight build, and indeed, he was still slim, but he was suddenly… was "chunkier" the right word to describe it? There was just suddenly more of him; where she had once been able to get her hand around his wrist she now struggled to even touch her fingertips together. He was taller too, she had noticed. It was as though he had suddenly aged two or three years, now nearer to nineteen than sixteen.

She didn't know what had happened to him, or why.

She didn't care, either.

All sanity had fled her; something was driving her, something _wanted_ him, and wanted him _within_ her – and that meant in the _literal_ sense of the word. She had never, ever felt this way before; _lustful_.

Jeez, the word was "horny". That wasn't _her_; she shouldn't _feel_ these things. And yet she _did_ and could not even find it within herself to _try_ to push them away. Everything had left her; even the memory of that horrific vision she had seen within his mind. The one of him…

…_raping her…_

He pulled off her cloak without even unfastening it and threw it aside, baring her perfect form in its white silk dress. She kicked off her pumps and lost them in the dark. He was sort of half-sitting up and she was straddling his lap, her hands on his shoulders. He was still "wearing" his bathrobe but it seemed like too much hassle to try and get it off over his wings, and at any rate he didn't seem to be in the most patient of moods regarding sitting still and letting her take it off. He was too busy kissing her newly-bared throat and shoulders, his hands – intentionally – on her breasts. She tilted her head back, enjoying it, and she knew that he too was savouring it. The last time _he_ had not undressed her – she had done it herself – and he was making sure she did not deprive him again.

Still, he was taking his time. She helped him by removing the silver cuffs on her wrists, putting them aside. She was finding it surprisingly easy to manage her emotionally-controlled powers; it was somehow much easier than it had been the first time…

He removed his mouth from her collar bone, took hold of her silk dress and pulled it off over her head. She put her arms up to help him and felt it slide off like liquid.

All that left was the underwear. She smiled at him in the silver light. It was a set, and an art unto itself; white lace and silk. She loved them.

He didn't even look at them. He unsnapped her bra and unceremoniously removed it. She was a bit put out at that but didn't have time to protest; he certainly seemed demonic now, almost aggressive. He had not been this way before, but it almost excited her now as he suddenly flipped their positions so that he was on top of her. His huge leathery wings were spread wide open, contrasting against his icy skin and his white robe. Looking up at him, his masked face was unnervingly expressionless, his ebony hair smooth and soft and shiny in the moonlight. She had never seen him this way before; he was suddenly a very long way away from Robin the Boy Wonder, from the team leader of the Teen Titans, and it ran deeper than his appearance. It was not the absence of the gelled hair, the cape, the traffic-light colour scheme or the "R" on his shirt that made him different.

She did not know quite _what_ it was.

But she loved it.

As for him, he could barely think straight. His mind reeled with a burning desire and also a sense of confusion; he had never been drunk before – he had never _drank_, actually - but he decided that this must be what it felt like. One minute he was aggressive and insistent, demanding in his need, the next gentle and calm about it, almost seductive. He couldn't seem to control his chain of thought, although he retained an innocent fascination of her as he looked down at her. She was naked save for her lacy silk briefs, her whole body bathed in silver light and shadow from the trees above. Her breasts were perfectly rounded and shadowy, and his hand, as though of its own will, reached up to trace the delicate swelling of one. She exhaled deeply, almost impatiently.

They had made love before, but he had never realised how beautiful she was. But he could see it now as she lay beneath him, her legs sprawled invitingly. She wasn't doing anything, just lying there patiently as he had, her amethyst eyes closed. He could almost sense the vibe, the one saying; "What the hell are you _waiting_ for?".

_Good question…_

He slipped off her underwear and felt her pull him to her perfect form. Her mouth touched his and she kissed him deeply as she wrapped her arms around him. She broke it as he entered her and screamed even though he knew he hadn't hurt her. Screaming with ecstasy was not unheard of.

Developing another set of eyes was something else entirely.

One minute her eyes were closed, the next they were open, blazing crimson, and there were two sets. It was instantaneous and the next second she closed her eyes again and they were gone. In a normal circumstance he would have… freaked, maybe. Certainly _removed_ himself.

He didn't even blink.

She was a monster. He was little more than a monster himself. He felt detached from what he had been before; Robin, Dick Grayson, whatever…

And he didn't care.

She was back to normal now, wriggling underneath him and panting and moaning and really digging her nails into his flesh. She was sobbing a bit too, and occasionally weeping his name, her arms around his neck holding him to her.

He barely knew what he was doing. His heart was slamming in his chest, he was barely breathing, and although his blue eyes behind his mask were squeezed shut, he knew that if he opened them, he would not be able to see anything; his hair had all fallen across his forehead. His wings shifted with every movement, opening and closing, and he could not stop them from doing it; nor could he stop the moans of pleasure escaping from him. He was doing everything within his power to satisfy the fierce insistent wanting of her, and it was barely enough. He could not be satisfied, and only grew more lascivious, and more breathless with it.

There could be no control to this now, no line to draw. They were a unified bond, a fusion of two souls, and the very earth was witness to their passion.

He didn't know how it happened, but suddenly he wasn't on top anymore; he was underneath. He opened his eyes and shook his jet hair back from them. Raven was practically sitting back on him, one hand on his stomach, the other in her own violet hair, scrunching it up in her fingers as though styling it. The way she moved against him, inflaming him… it was so controlled, simply oozing unbridled eroticism, as though she was dancing Latino. The only beat was her heart and his own, the rhythm merely their cries and groans of ecstasy, but it suddenly became something more; her whole body was taut and highlighted in silver, and similarly every muscle and tendon of his own flexed and glistened with sweat as he tried to keep up with her. It had become some kind of dance, at least to her, and he… he was a martial artist, not a dancer. He was almost out of time with her, losing control by the second, so that really all he could do was lie there and let his cries be lost across the empty waters of the lake. His ecstasy was overflowing and so, it seemed, was hers.

She leaned forwards over him, pausing in her Latino-like movement against him. Her fingers touched his hot forehead, brushing his fringe away.

"You okay?" Her breathing was ragged but she was able to speak without breaking.

"Mm-hmm." For a brief moment he had forgotten how to talk, so thought "mm-hmm" was justifiable.

He sat up and looked at her. She was just sitting on him and he was still inside her; she was leaning back against his raised knees. She kissed him and collapsed on top of him as he sank back to the ground, then pulled away from him.

"Are you coming?"

He blinked. Even given the circumstances – they were screwing; go figure – it seemed an odd question.

He laid his head back on the grass.

"I don't know… maybe… I, well… I guess…"

In his odd state of mind, he was simply confusing himself.

"I think… _yes_…" he decided, although he was still confused. "Yes. I am."

She didn't answer him. Not verbally, anyway.

Even with her copulating against him again, he grew bored of being underneath. He flipped her over again and pinned her down, implying he meant to keep her there this time. She cried out again and he wasn't sure if it signified pain or pleasure, but he didn't care all that much. As confused as he had been, he had not been lying when he had affirmed her question. He was reaching his peak; he could feel it, feel his heart-rate increasing even more, if that was even biologically possible. But he wasn't quite there yet, and the fact that he was merely teetering at the edge was frustrating.

He was working himself into a right state; even in the midst of her blinding passion she was able to notice it. His breathing was shallow and desperate, as though he needed to breathe but couldn't seem to, he was burning up, and his wings couldn't seem to keep still, so that she could feel a bit of a breeze on her body from their movement. She reached up deep inside his open robe and caressed him gently, calming him, as though he was a wild animal she had taken upon herself to tame. He bowed his ebony-maned head at the touch and groaned; he liked it but he was so wound up and she wasn't really helping—

She felt his whole body tighten against her as he arched his back and came. His wings spread like kites as he hit his stride and the feeling of pleasure that encompassed him was such that it made him shiver even though it was hot out.

At first she loved the feeling, one that she had felt once before, and she clung to him and shrieked wildly and writhed and showered him with kisses.

But then, it changed.

What had been a feeling of pleasure became an ancient agony, as though she had felt it once before, hundreds of years ago. She had not been _around_ hundreds of years ago, but it was like déjá-vu. It felt like he was releasing molten metal into her; it burned her right throughout her body, white-hot and excruciating. She did not know why it hurt her, nor did she care. All that mattered was that she got away from him as quickly as possible.

He didn't seem to notice he was hurting her. His eyes were closed and even when she screamed in agony he didn't respond. She could feel pain shooting through her skull, blinding, and could feel that evil from within him again, as clearly as though it was inside _her_. She could feel it exploiting her mind as even as she shoved against Robin, trying to get his attention.

"Robin…" she sobbed. "_Robin!…_"

He opened his masked eyes, not because she was crying his name, but because something felt really weird. Where their lower bodies were locked together it felt all wet, and he knew it wasn't _him_.

"Hey, Raven…"

He trailed off as he looked down at her. Her eye-count had expanded to four ruby slits again and she was sobbing and screaming and going nuts, trying to push him off her. He got off her immediately and shattered their bondage.

It was then that he saw what the wetness was.

_Raven was bleeding_.

He looked down at himself and saw that there was blood all over him too, spattered all down his thighs and smeared over his pelvis and stomach.

He was a guy; he didn't know much about periods and stuff. But he knew that _this_ wasn't anything like that. It was the way she was screaming, as though she was dying… It couldn't be the "Virginity Bleed" either, because she wasn't a virgin; he had already taken that from her…

He sat there, bewildered, horrified, and completely unsure of what to do.

Raven sat up. Her screaming had ended but she was still sobbing. He was relieved to see her eyes had returned to normal, however.

He tied his robe again and crawled over to her. She was wiping her eyes, choking and gasping as she tried to stop crying.

"Raven… I'm so sorry…" His voice was little more than a whisper as he reached out to touch her. She shrieked and recoiled out of his reach, a hand going to her forehead.

"_No_," she sobbed. "No, Robin…"

"But I wasn't going to-" He started to protest.

"Don't _touch_ me, Robin…"

She was on her knees, naked and bloody and curled up, her head in her hands. He withdrew the hand he had been reaching out again, got to his feet and went to get her white cloak. He brought it back to her and laid it over her shoulders without touching her, then stepped back. She tugged it around herself, still sniffling, and rose too.

"Raven, I… I'm so sorry," Robin said desperately. "I'm so sorry I _hurt_ you… We shouldn't… No, _I_ shouldn't have…"

She walked past him wordlessly, holding her cloak around her otherwise naked form, and retrieved her dress and shoes and cuffs and underwear.

He went after her, distracted by how terrible he felt. He had never meant to hurt her…

"Raven, I-"

She turned her head towards him and he saw those four eyes blazing at him from her beautiful face. He stepped backwards in shock and horror and didn't say another word.

She didn't say anything else either and turned away from him, taking to the air. She merged with night air as she teleported back to the Senate House, leaving him alone on the dark island.

He didn't understand. Why had it hurt her? What had she gone all demonic on him? Why had she bled? None of that had happened the first time. Why this time? Was it because he was possessed?...

Or was it something else?

He felt empty to the core as he found his shorts and pulled them on. His robe was already bloody and now his white shorts would be too.

He couldn't find it within him to care.

With a single flap of his leathery wings he took to the air and flitted back across the lake to the Senate House. He sincerely hoped that no-one was looking for him. How would he explain the blood, or his disappearance?…

He touched down on the balcony and crossed to the curtains, peeking through them cautiously. There were no senators in his room waiting for him. He breathed a sigh of relief and went into his room, making straight for the bathroom. There was huge shower in there, the size of a small room, and easily big enough for him to get into with his wings. He preferred the bath but knew he would really be pushing his good luck if he ventured down there, so removed his bloody garments, threw them over the rack, started the shower and stepped in.

He couldn't describe the feeling he got when he looked down at his feet and saw the water draining around him tinged red with Raven's blood.

He didn't need to wash his hair, as he had already taken a bath before…

_Well_.

He knocked the shower off again and shook himself hard to get rid of the excess water. It hadn't been a proper shower as such, but he was no longer bloody, and that was what mattered. He found himself a towel and dried off, going back into the main bedroom as he did so; it was still empty. He crossed to the bed and threw the towel aside, then simply got under the covers. He wasn't one for sleeping naked; he had never done it before, actually, and he wasn't doing it now because he was still turned on or anything. It was just suddenly he couldn't bear the thought of clothes, not even a pair of boxer shorts. He couldn't explain _why_, because he didn't exactly _know_. He just felt more comfortable wearing nothing.

_**Really** hope I'm not becoming a naturist here…_

He closed his masked eyes and slept…

* * *

Three cheers for my first ever lemon/lime! Not on the site (_coughSmallPrintcough – _I blame Narroch06; she's a bad influence), but you know what I mean… It's a bit ropey compared to the sex scenes in _Small Print_, etc (even though those are of… _ahem_… a slightly different nature. And they are co-written, of course) but it was the first one I ever wrote, so yay for me…

Admit it; you were all expecting him to _rape_ her, weren't you? Because of that vision, hmm? Don't worry; all will be explained. Not this chapter. Not next chapter. But if you persevere… everything – every little tiny cryptic clue I have left scattered around – will be explained in "Idiot's Guide" fashion at some point or another. You will be left wondering about _nothing_ by the time I am finished, that much I will promise you.

And bearing in mind that Raven could kick Robin's powerless ass if he ever tried to rape her…

BTW; the blowjob? _Weeeellllll_… that probably didn't shock you. I'm sure you've read _much_ worse; hell, if you read _Small Print_, you've read much worse… But once upon a time, when just my in-person friends were reading this last year… They. Were. **SHOCKED**.

Which was the intention, you understand. There's another reason for it too – a plot-device – but _mostly_ it was shock.

_Quinn_…?

And the Latino dance reference? I was listening to Las Ketchup's album _Hijas Del Tomate_ at the time… _Kusha Las Payas_, to be precise, when I wrote that particular line…

Note to all Robin fans: The Boy Wonder spends a lot of time naked in this fic from here on in (especially for YamiTai, who requested that Robin "lose his towel" at the start of the fic). _Why_? You will see… and it's _not_ because he decides to become a naturist.

One more lil' chapter after this, which is up too. It's just a dream and is _tiny_…

…But of a slightly erotic nature too.

- RobinRocks xXx


	21. Demonic Fantasies

I have nothing to say about this, apart from the fact that it came to me in Textiles when I was in Year 11. I remember distinctly that there was a storm outside and I wasn't very pleased about the prospect of walking home in it…

Demonic Fantasies

_The Avenger slept, and the Avenger dreamed…_

_The demon child dreamed of a great many forbidden things, things which he was not allowed to indulge in by order of those who were trying to save him._

_Chocolate flowed like water._

_He dreamed of candy and ice-cream as though he was still only four or five years old._

_It was almost erotic, although the entire concept was crazy. How could chocolate be in any way sexual?…_

_And then it changed._

_He lay on a great stone altar in a dimly-lit chamber. He was naked except for a necklace around his neck, a tiny thin glittering chain made of silver with a single blood-red jewel suspended from it. It glimmered on his chest as he lay there, sparkling from the light of the candles scattered around the dungeon-like room._

_It was then that he realised that he was engaged in another act of sexual intercourse. It was so distant he had not noticed, but looking up now he expected to see Raven._

_It wasn't Raven._

_It was Starfire._

_A very different Starfire. Her hair was wild and flaming, her eyes blazing emerald as though she was about to rip half a dozen starbolts through him._

_But she was not fighting him._

_She was fucking him._

_In this dreamworld, that was the only way to put it. He could not even begin to think clearly. It was not real, but yet it was. He believed every second of it, every movement of the alien girl against him._

_He did not understand why it was Starfire._

_Not Raven._

_It wasn't Raven…_

_She spoke, but he couldn't understand. His sedated mind could not possibly have conjured up real Tamaranean, but it sounded authentic. _

_And he didn't understand._

_It was not real. Even as he lay there allowing Starfire to have her way with him, he knew it was not real._

_But why, then, did he **believe** it so wholly? Why could he **feel** it…?_

_She was more alien that he had ever seen her, savage, clawing at him and drawing blood, and he was scratching back, snapping at her face if she came too close._

_She was not human._

_And neither was he. _

* * *

Why? _Why?_ **_WHY?_**

Again… all will be explained… soon enough.The reason for this particular savage dream is explained fully in one of the last chapters of _Black Magic_, although clues as to _why_ will be dropped earlier than that.

Next chapter: _Another_ brand-spanking-new one I wrote especially for you! That brings the "new" chapter count up to the grand total of _three_ now! Aren't ya'll just so _happy_? _Ahem_. Anyway, it's one that focuses on Raven – because let's face it, we're getting a bit sick of Robin by now… And I never bothered about Raven in the original _Black Magic_; in relation to how she would be feeling after her little "encounter" with our Boy Wonder. And, you know… I _should_ have done. She was a lot worse off…

BTW, if you're just gonna review one chapter out of the two I have put up today, I would prefer you reviewed _Forbidden Love_, if that's okay with you. There is more to say, believe me… Of course, if you _really_ love me, you could review _both_…

_- Flutters eyelashes_ – :)

Ah, I'll just say do whatever the hell you want… you will anyway…

- RobinRocks xXx


	22. The Ravens of Prophecy

Yes, I have kept you waiting a pretty long time for this update. Why? Well, I could lie and make up some semi-plausible excuse that none of you would believe, or I could admit to being lazy.

Truthfully, it's neither. I'm just cruel. _Mwahahahahaaaa_…!

Actually I was going to update _yesterday_, but the site was being **ANNOYING** and wouldn't let me. Was anyone else having problems with it yesterday, or was it just me? It kept squawking "The page cannot be displayed" no matter _what_ I clicked on… Reviews, Stats, Favourites, Documents, Stories… So, yeah, you _should_ have had this sooner, but the God of Fanfiction said "No way!". Blame him, not me…

Okay, so this is another of those brand new shiny chapters that wasn't in the "original" Black Magic. There is starting to get quite a lot of these… and _that_ made no sense (grammatically or otherwise) whatsoever…

_Hehhehheh_…

Sooo… here is Raven's side of the bargain; I ignored her the first time around…

Before we begin, thankyou to: **Quinn and His Quill** (oh yeah, you sure had me fooled there, Quinn, about the reviews, yes, you are sick rather than good (kidding!), and ROBIN IS **NOT** TOM CRUISE!); **YamiTai** (yes, Robin will naked a lot… or _nearly_ naked, anyway… not that he's really worn an awful lot throughout the entire fic anyway… and don't worry about the reviews…); **Daybreak25 a.k.a Mickeykins** (you _wanted_ a rape scene? _Okaaaay_… and no way is the RobinxRaven vibe, over! The reason for the "Starfire Dream" will be explained later…); **Rocky-White Wolf of Curses** (you have to wait for _Small Print_, because Narroch06 and I – although we don't like to admit it – are going very slow with it. Life's tough…); and speaking of… **Narroch06** (we have already discussed your dream, and I hope you discussed it with a psychiatrist too… and yes, Robin is a _whore_; we have discussed that too… we _really_ have to get some new topics to talk about…); **Seductive Angel** (what is it about the blowjob you would like discuss, my dear? _Grin_… Oh, and as above… I describe Robin as a hoe because he _is_ one. Sorry, that's how it is. He's my very favourite _TT_ character… but a slut nonetheless. Deal with it… :P Also, Robin _was_ "fucking the hell" out of Raven… but that's not why she started bleeding…); **Kougraness** (yes, clothes do get abused quite a bit in this fic… but _that's_ the _least_ of your worries… And yeah, Robin screws Raven then dreams about doing the same to Star… you could call him a playboy, but it's a lot more fun to call him a whore…); **Me** (whoever you _really_ are… your one-word review made me smile… sometimes you don't have to say a lot to get the message across, it's true…); **Phoenix Skyborne** (I know, I know… I owe you about fifty reviews, soooo… it's okay that _you_ haven't reviewed _this_ for a while… also, I know you don't like RobinxRaven, but you will see later why it can't be RobinxStarfire…); **Half-demon Girl** (and Robin is a possessed-by-a-demon boy… it's not quite the same thing, but hey… Also, there is a third part to this, _Remember the Titans_, which I _really_ need to finish…); **Thrillzone** (actually, Slade both hasn't been in it for a while, and won't be either… you're right, maybe I should stick him in somewhere… he is being unnervingly quiet… and of _course_ you can't figure out what's going on! That's the point!); **Coolteenzz** (awwww, thankyou so much for the review! Your first one _ever_? Go me; you liked my fic so much you reviewed it! BTW, is Citrus02honey advertising me or something? I've had quite a few reviews from people who all seem to know her…); and lastly, to **AutumnDynasty** (because I _know_ you're reading this! Leave a damn review; Ms AS demands it!).

Okay, well… on with the fic, I guess…

The Ravens of Prophecy

And while the _Avenger_ dreamed—

Calmer now, Raven took a deep breath and slid under the surface of the hot lavender-scented water. Around her, the large en suite bathroom attached to her own room was dark and lit by around a dozen candles. Jasmine incense burned, making the air sweet and lulling.

A long hot bath always made her feel better.

What had happened back there with Robin still frightened her immensely, but she was not ready to deal with it yet. The pain, the bleeding…

She was not ready. Tomorrow; she would think it over tomorrow. She would go and see Robin and they would sit down and work it out together. They were good at that. They would try to understand what had happened.

Because nothing of the sort had happened the _first_ time.

At the back of her mind, she worried that somehow a little of the demonic influence over _him_ had gone into _her_. But she pushed it away, simply because she wasn't ready to deal with it.

She would have her bath. She would meditate. And then she would sleep.

Robin and his wings and his demon-induced horniness (or maybe that was just the teenaged male hormones) and his damned possession could wait until tomorrow morning.

She got out of the bath, feeling much cleaner and calmer, and dried herself, pulling on her black nightgown and long deep-violet bathrobe. There were no hairdryers in Azarath, so she had to do it the old-fashioned way; literally engaging her telekinesis to _lift_ every last drop of water from her hair. It was a long process, and it was at times like these she was glad she didn't have long hair like Starfire; when she was done she pulled her hair into a ponytail – not something she did often – and went through into her bedroom to settle down for a meditation session.

_Robin_ could wait until tomorrow.

_

* * *

She found herself in a crumpled heap on the ground. Dazedly hauling herself to her knees, she looked around wearily. _

_A small gasp escaped her lips._

_And yet, it was not one that was of particular surprise. It was a scene she had envisioned before; and one that, according to the prophecy of her birth, would one day become real enough._

_Fire. Flaming skies. Charred nothingness; that had once been a city. A world. Alive with people and the comings and goings of everyday life._

_All this which she had been conceived to bring about._

_So it brought about not surprise in her; only weariness. Almost boredom. She knew, Azar damn it! She **knew**! _

_She looked at her palms. Mark of Scath. Nothing new there. On her arms too; she could see the runes because her arms were bare. _

_She got to her feet; and **then** she was hit with the wave of surprise._

_Her hair was long – longer even than Starfire's – and flowed in a violet wave down her back._

_She was in that sleeveless glowing red silk gown._

_And she was heavily pregnant._

_And although this was a dream (of this she was conscious), she was reminded instantly—_

_Of the terrible vision she had seen in Robin's mind that morning._

_Because her persona manifested here in her mind… was the same that had been in **his**. Long hair. Warning runes. Red dress. Extreme term of pregnancy. _

_She placed a hand on her swollen stomach; then sharply removed it as she felt – or at least **saw** – the kick of the baby inside her._

_Was this **too** in that prophecy? The End… and her carrying of a child?_

_She looked up as she heard the harsh fluttering of many wings; and saw an entire flock of ravens soaring overhead._

_That immediately struck her as extremely strange; ravens, she knew, were solitary birds. They did not travel in flocks like that._

_She tried to levitate but found that her mantra did nothing; she seemed to have lost her powers._

_She knew she **had** to follow those ravens._

_Her namesake._

_They were her only lead._

_She broke into a run, going as fast as she could, stumbling frequently because of her stomach and because of the dress and the matching red high heels she had found herself in. She cut down broken alleyways, across twisted intersections and through burning streets. The ravens flew overhead, a little in front, and yet they seemed conscious of her following them. In fact, they even seemed to be slowing down so that she **could**._

_She eventually found herself in a clearing; almost circular. Around it a wall of flames towered, and when she stepped into it, flames arose behind her, enclosing her in._

_She barely noticed; because—_

"_Robin!"_

_She saw him sprawled on his back right in the middle of the clearing and ran to him._

_He was perfectly normal – he didn't even have his wings – and was dressed immaculately in his red, green and yellow uniform. Beneath him was drawn a circle; comprised of Azarathian runes and symbols, in blood red powder._

_In his right hand was clutched the Orb of Azarath._

_She sank to her knees and shook him._

_He didn't move._

_Beginning to panic, she hauled him up and rested his head in her lap. She shook him again, hard; nothing._

_There was not a mark on him, and yet he was dead. She knew that he was dead._

_The Avenger was dead._

_That was why her powers – in this dreamworld, at least – weren't working._

_She heard the harsh cry of a raven and looked up. They were all there, watching her; with their four blazing eyes. Something bitter caught in her throat as she looked around; from out of nowhere, the bodies of Cyborg, Starfire and Beast Boy had also appeared, and were sprawled as lifelessly as their leader on the ground._

_Lightning flashed above, although there was no rain; and this was followed by the deafening drumroll of thunder. She looked up at the towering pillars of black smoke, the choking clouds and blood-red sky._

_The End._

_All this which she had been conceived to bring about._

_And yet… there was more to this dream – this **vision**, even – than simply the End…_

"_They're dead, you know…"_

_She looked up sharply and turned her head._

_Terra._

_The blonde geomancer stood behind her, her long hair waving behind her in the hot wind brought about by the flames._

_The runes still burning on her skin – the Mark of Scath still across the jewel on her ashma chakra – Raven stood and faced Terra, leaving Robin on the ground behind her._

"_You did this!" She spat._

_Terra smiled._

"_**I** didn't, Raven," she said serenely. "Look around you. This is **your** doing. This is **your** destiny."_

_Raven closed her eyes. In reality, Terra could not know of these things, because **no-one** – bar herself, her mother and a handful of the senators – did. But here, it didn't matter; it seemed to make sense._

_Terra nodded at Robin._

"_**I** didn't kill him," she went on nonchalantly. "He was a sacrifice. He died for **you**, Raven." Terra's smile became a smouldering smirk. "He died… so that **you** could bring about **this**. The End of the World. What a sacrifice, huh?"_

"_That's not true!" Raven screamed at her._

_Terra's smirk dropped to a tight line._

"_Look, I don't **make** the prophecies, okay?" She replied shortly. "I just follow orders… as do **you**, it would seem."_

_Terra's eyes glowed amber and the ground beneath Raven cracked and collapsed, causing her to lose her balance and fall backwards over Robin. Before she could do anything about it, the Orb of Azarath (stone that it was) was encompassed in the same gold glow and was torn from the dead boy's hand purely by Terra's will; it shot through the air like a bullet and was caught by Terra like a backstop catching a baseball at a league game._

"_Slade wants his orb back," she explained, smiling sweetly._

"_You're still his apprentice?" Raven spat, sitting up. _

_Terra's eyes narrowed venomously; her gaze shifted to Raven's swollen abdomen._

"_Better somebody's **apprentice** than their **whore**," she hissed in reply. She shook her head in mock-sadness. "Wouldn't have thought it of you, Raven…"_

_Raven looked at the ground for a second or two, fighting back her raging anger; and when she looked up again…_

…_Terra was simply gone. As though she had never been there._

_As was the way with dreams._

_She started to get up, wondering what to do or where to go—_

_A pursuit which was soon cut short by a sudden extremely sharp pain in her abdomen. She doubled over, cursing; because she knew what was coming._

_The baby._

_**Whose** baby? She had no idea. In this dreamworld she could not think straight; couldn't remember what pregnancy and birth represented. It rarely meant actual pregnancy—_

_It was quick. The pain intensified so that she could not hold back her screams and her insides gave a few hard pushes that were against her will…_

_And then, in a sudden hot slippery rush—_

Raven sat bolt upright, gasping for air. Tangled in her sheets, she tore them off and fled to the bathroom, where she was as violently sick as Robin had been the night before into the sink.

And when she was done, and there was nothing left _within_ her…

She sank to her knees and burst into tears. The mirror above the sink cracked and shattered as her control over her emotions slipped; and the sound of it tinkling into the sink brought her back to her senses. She took a few deep breaths to ease the tears and knelt there, shaking, reining in her torrent of emotions.

She was beginning to become very afraid; for Robin. For herself. For the other Titans. And for the _world_.

Because she was beginning to get the feeling that somehow the prophecy attached to the Orb of Azarath and the one that had been made at the time of her birth were somehow connected. That perhaps the unleashing of the power of the orb was simply to create a pathway for Trigon.

For the End.

And if that was true… then she and Robin were the key components. _He_ was the Avenger of one prophecy – _she_ the portal of the other.

But her dream confused her. Where did Terra fit into all of this? Surely she was just working for Slade? She was gaining nothing herself from this, right?

And the other extremely disturbing images… Pregnancy. Birth. The ravens. Her dead friends. Robin as a sacrifice…

For _her_. For the _End_.

That made sense to her. Allowing Raven to live allowed the End to be brought about; because it could only happen through her.

But _why_? Why the _need_ to sacrifice himself? She couldn't—

"Raven?"

Raven jumped and turned sharply; Starfire was standing in the doorway of the en suite bathroom, wearing a floor-length pink satin nightgown and a very worried look on your face.

"Are you alright?" The alien girl inquired anxiously, stepping towards her. "I heard you scream in your sleep, and then crying…"

"What were you doing, listening outside my door?" Raven asked irritably, standing up and wiping her face.

Starfire shook her head.

"Oh, _no_!" She protested. "No, Raven! I respect your privacy very much indeed! But your room in not very far from mine and Tamaraneans have very good hearing. I am afraid I could not _help_ but hear you. You are okay, yes?"

"Yeah," Raven replied distantly. "Just a bad dream, Starfire. Thankyou for your concern."

Starfire smiled slightly.

"You are most definitely sure?"

"Yeah…" She looked at Starfire hard. "What are you doing, anyway?"

"Oh, well…" Starfire gave a sheepish little shrug. "I thought perhaps now that I am awake I might go down to the lounge room and make myself a hot chocolate." Her green eyes brightened. "Perhaps you might wish to accompany me?"

Raven didn't want to; she really didn't want to. But Starfire's eyes were pleading and in earnest, and the telekinetic girl could see that her friend wanted her company very much indeed.

Besides, she knew she wouldn't be going back to sleep again tonight.

"Alright," she relented wearily.

Starfire beamed.

"But I want to look something up first," Raven went on. "Just in my books. You go on ahead. I'll see you in five minutes."

Starfire nodded and departed, her long red hair swinging in a shiny sheet down her back.

Raven watched her leave, the sight of her friend's hair reminding of her dream; and of the dream version of herself.

Long hair. Powerless. Pregnant.

When she was sure Starfire was safely gone she washed herself up and cleared the broken mirror from the sink with her telekinesis (_her powers worked; Robin wasn't dead…_). Then she slipped back into her room and went to the bookshelves; with the help of a candle she located the thick leather volume she wanted and pulled it down, coughing a little from the dust that rose as she did so.

She had a similar one in her room back at Titans Tower, but this one would serve her purposes equally well.

_Interpreting Dreams._

She brought it back over to her bed and sat down on the edge, flipping to the index at the back.

First she looked up _raven_.

"_In a dream," _she read,_ "the raven can be seen to be a symbol of sin, but often also taken be taken to mean a prophecy or a warning. Its meaning can be ambivalent since it can represent evil, but also wisdom."_

She had known that they represented prophecy beforehand; she knew that was why _she_ was _named_ "Raven". And the ravens that lurked in her mind – those with the harsh cries and the four eyes – _were_ a warning in themselves. They were like the runes or the Mark of Scath.

There to remind her of the destiny she could not escape.

But the "sin" part was new to her. Of course, that suddenly made sense too; for what had she and Robin done?

Committed only the most forbidden sin between them. It was a sin because _she_ was not allowed to partake of such delight, being what she was; and because _he_ was possessed by something that fed on all forms of pleasure, from sexual satisfaction to eating chocolate.

And yet they had broken those forbidden rules for a few wonderful moments of primal recreation.

Shutting the memory out – the taste and smell and feel and sound of him – she found her way back to the index.

Flicking to the page entitled "Pregnancy", she felt a shiver run down her spine as she began to read;

"_To dream of pregnancy, either one's own or that of another, seldom indicates pregnancy in a real sense, much less one's own pregnancy. More often it symbolises any kind of protracted waiting period, be it prophetic or manual. Sometimes we are not aware of this waiting period, and so pregnancy can symbolise changes that are taking place within us spiritually. If the pregnancy is volitionally aborted it can mean that we need to reject or dispel negative feelings and worries within us; however, if the pregnancy is miscarried it can be interpreted that we are conscious of the fact that something within our lives is not right, or that we fear losing a part of ourselves. If the pregnancy results in giving birth, this can also represent change or gestation. It can mean that we are aware of death – on both a physical and spiritual level – and also aware of our own existence and fortune. Giving birth in a dream can show acceptance of who we are and of our personal destiny."_

Raven shut the book, and laid it on the bed beside her.

If those passages were to be believed – and she knew it to be a reliable book – then her dream seemed to be more about her _own_ destiny than it did about Robin's. If pregnancy represented a "waiting period"… well, what was she within right now _but_ a waiting period?

Waiting for _her_ destiny.

And giving birth symbolised an "acceptance of destiny". She _did_ accept that she had been conceived to do terrible things, didn't she?

She did.

But there were things that still made no sense. Robin's "sacrifice". The Orb of Azarath. Terra.

It was unlike any dream she had ever experienced before. Prophetic ones of the End… had never included the Boy Wonder or the orb or the blonde earthmover.

Raven pushed the book under her bed and retrieved her robe. Her mind was greatly troubled by all that had been happening over the past few days; and she paused to reconstruct the events in her head.

It was amazing how much of a twist everything had taken.

It had started about a fortnight ago, with the theft of the Orb of Azarath from Jump City Museum; she had heard nothing of it until after Robin had returned from Arkham Asylum, for she had not been involved in the enquiry. Robin and Beast Boy had conducted the comb-over and proceeded to keep it to themselves; Beast Boy probably because he had forgotten and Robin because… that was how Robin _was_.

Regardless, Robin had been summoned to Arkham Asylum by Slade – in the guise of Batman – to have committed upon him the first step in initiating the prophecy; a prophecy attached to the stolen Orb of Azarath. Slade had (needlessly) raped Robin and thus the Boy Wonder had discovered his role in the prophecy – that of the "Avenger". The one supposed to _stop_ the "Summoning" of the orb's power; and the one who was attached somehow to the powers of every "mortal god" the planet Earth had to offer. The Teen Titans, the Justice League, the HIVE… Somehow – and it seemed incredibly implausible – all of those fantastical powers of both good and bad forces were threaded to the mortal sidekick of the Batman of Gotham City.

For this reason, Slade was hell-bent on killing said mortal sidekick; so that he could fulfil the prophecy and so that no-one would be able to stand in his way to prevent him from doing so.

_That_ had been worrying enough.

But _now_… Robin had been shot with an arrow that had not _killed_ him, but placed a demonic possession upon his being, so that he was literally rotting on the inside. Being _devoured_ from within. And, on taking him to Azarath to help him, she had found him suddenly susceptible to violent prophetic dreams or visions; of things that he _could_ not and _should_ not know anything. Upon his body had been manifested the runes and marks that were _hers_; the Warning of a destiny that _she_ and she _alone_ had been born to fulfil. Unbridled inhuman fury and uncontrollable sexual feelings raged suddenly within him, product of his "tenant", and they worried her because he could not control them. The demon inside him fed on both pleasure and violence; the two things he did not seem to be able to suppress.

She knew this fact to be partly _because_ of Robin himself; he was a teenaged boy inundated with hormones, horniness and sudden desires and needs, and it was also part of his personality to have a terrible, frightening temper lurking beneath his cool façade. These two things the demon exploited in him, which was possibly _why_ he was in such a bad state.

In all fairness, none of the other cases she had ever seen had been teenaged boys; nor had they the suppressed anger in them that Robin had. Robin had seen his parents fall to their deaths in front of him as a "warning" from some gangster. He had been blackmailed and manipulated into being an apprentice by Slade; and later still had been raped and nearly beaten to death by him. And now his despair at what was happening to him only added to the fury that was slowly but surely beginning to bubble over in him.

The demon within him was clearly having an absolute field day.

But what now? The sudden involvement of Terra on Slade's part; Robin's visions; what had just happened between them; and now her dream.

Everything was on a terrible downward spiral, and Raven didn't know how far down that spiral went. What had started as a simple theft from a museum had become so twisted and confusing it hurt her head to think about it.

Her dream scared her; as did the vision she had seen in his mind that morning. Vision; or dream. Whatever it had been, it sent chills down her spine. It had shown herself, long-haired, marked and pregnant, just as she had been in her own dream. She had seen Robin disappear into a pool of blood, and had witnessed destruction and fire reminiscent of the visions of her own destiny. And…

…in it he had _raped_ her. And in true life… well, he hadn't raped her. But they had slept together even so, right on the grass, and he had been so…

Demonic. Aggressive. Demanding.

Why did she get the feeling that if she _hadn't_ consented… he _would_ have raped her?

No. Not _him_. Not _Robin_. Robin would never rape her; it wasn't in his nature anyway, and after having been raped _himself_… It was something that he would _never_ do.

But the _demon_ in him – the one that was slowly gaining more and more control over him – certainly _would_.

If it craved sexual pleasure, it would take over him and _then_ take what it wanted.

And _herself_? Raven had a horrible feeling that _she_ hadn't been quite in her right mind either. Because she was usually so restrained, so controlled…

In truth, some of it she could barely remember. She had a nasty feeling that she had…

Yes. She _had_. She shivered. She had _sucked him off…_

Which had been… not _like_ her. Of _all_ things…

But then, if _she_ had not been in control of herself… then what _had_ been?

What stuck out most strongly about the whole thing… was the end of it. His climax. The blood. The pain.

Raven shivered again and tightened her robe. For now, she knew that there was nothing she could do. All of her questions would have to wait until she was in a position to get some answers. In reference to what had happened between herself and Robin, she was aware that the help of the senate was a no-go area.

She had been forbidden from even _seeing_ him; how was she going to explain… well, _that_?

Departing for the lounge room to join Starfire, once again she was struck with that feeling that…

…perhaps Seth Elliott was their only hope.

* * *

Dreams of ravens and pregnancy; although I wrote those passages myself, the information in them is accurate. I adapted the information from a book I have (not sure I believe half of it though… According to it, dreaming of a _goat_ represents inner admiration of someone you think you despise… _hmm_…). Sooo… if you ever dream about either of those things, the above is (apparently) what they mean.Just what _is_ going on? 

_Cackle_…

Next chapter: Seth Elliott! Finally! Really and truly! He's here, and kicking ass!

BTW, I have come to the conclusion that I love Robin-bashers. That might strike you as odd, being the pro-Robin person that I am (duh, Robin_Rocks_), but… they are so funny. Well, at least, Robin-bashing _fics_ are. Because… the people who don't like Robin basically don't like him because he's a jerk (and he _is_, I don't deny it; but I like him even _more_ for that…) and don't feel that he deserves to be the leader because of it. The result? People writing the most _hilariously_-OOC versions of Robin I have ever seen. Seriously, I am pretty much against character-bashing. I think if you don't like a character you should just avoid writing them. But… if you're gonna bash someone, bash Robin. It makes me laugh, because they are _soooo_ OOC. "Versions" of the Boy Wonder I have come across include; pervy Robin, emo/suicidal Robin (in a fic where he cuts his wrists, hahaha… I'm not laughing at the actual idea of cutting, because I know it's very serious. I'm just laughing at the idea of _Robin_ cutting, because… yeah, _riiiiight_… The only way _Robin_ would ever kill himself would be to jump off a skyscraper and realise halfway down that he doesn't have his grappling hook and Starfire is nowhere to be found…) and thick-as-a-brick Robin. The latter was in a fic called _Slade Moves In_ and its sequel _The Big Boom_. Word of warning; they are _bad_ fics. Dreadful spelling, weird punctuation, all the characters are pretty much OOC and there is no storyline.

It's freakin' _hilarious_. I am not sure if the writer meant it as a joke or if they were serious about it. But Robin… Thick. As. _Shit_. It's got to be the worst case of Robin-bashing I have ever come across. Mwa ha ha…

So yeah; stalking Robin-haters has become my newfound hobby. If you find any Robin-bashers/Robin-bashing fics, let me know. They amuse me highly.

Mostly because the writers rarely actually have any _justification_ for writing him that way.

I think I'm gonna get a shirt with "I Love Robin-bashers" on it…

Oh, and review… or something…

- RobinRocks xXx


	23. Sweet Little Lies

Whoo-hoo! My dreaded AS exams finished today, _soooo_… you guys get an update! Actually, they weren't too bad, except Psychology, which I utterly _failed_… Yes, Quinn, that's _probably_ because I didn't go to most of the lessons…

Before I begin with my little "review thanks", I must point out that I seem to have sparked a vendetta against myself – namely from the "other Robin fans". _Weeeellllll_… you peeps might just fancy the pants off our Boy Wonder; he's _my_ favourite because he's so damned _amusing_, has hundreds of one-liners and there are a _billion_ ways you can torture him (see below and _rest_ of my fics, including the chapters of _Black Magic_ prior to this one, which you _should_ have read…). Plus there is not _one_ lousy Robin-centred (yes, that how we spell "centered" in Britain) episode – which is more than I can say for Cy and BB, who seem to have an amalgamation of crappy eps to their names – _and_ he has the whole "Batman-back-story-thing" going on, and you can pair him up with _anyone_ (more fun for the fan-fic writers!) and he's all crazy and everything and _yeah_, _okay_, he's _cute_…

…but he's a _cartoon character_. Sorry if I just burst your dream bubble. And also I would like to point out that _no-one_ has started on my case for all the _horrible_ things I have written happening to him; _just_ me saying I like Robin-Bashers. Hmm? I'm technically Robin-Bashing myself, actually. _Soooo_, you so-called "Robin Lovers"… you must _like_ reading about poor Robbie-Wobbie having one painful crappy event after another dumped on his head. You hypocrites – Robin Fans turning on _other_ Robin Fans… what is the world _coming_ to:) And besides, if you actually _paid attention_ to what I said, I didn't say _I_ liked bashing Robin; I just like Robin-Bashers _because_ they have _stupid_ reasons for hating him. Basically they amuse me because there is no _reason_ to hate him…

Also, anyone who cares… we now have Season 5 in Britain! That sounds kinda excited, to be honest. Actually, I'm not too impressed… WTF was _Homecoming_ about? _Titans East_, you have officially been knocked off your top spot as _#1 Crappy Teen Titans Two-Parter… Trust _was good, though…

**ANYWAY**… thankyou to; **Ravenrogue19** (aww, yeah, it was corny, but thankyou anyway:P); **Rocky-White Wolf of Curses **(yes, Robin-Basher hunting… and yes, it's _all your fault_ about _Small Print_. Usually I blame Narroch06 but I suppose it's actually _your_ fault for making me continue in the first place…); **Narroch06 **(I love **WRITING** dream sequences! Maybe you could tell, they show up everywhere… yes, Seth Elliott is _finally_ here! I hope you like him…); **Me** (whatever your true pen-name is… you're not going to tell me, are you? How was Robin a jerk in the last chapter? He wasn't even _in_ it!); **Phoenix Skyborne** (I still haven't reviewed _Changes_! Oh, and I took a look at _Slade on Trial_. Mwa ha ha… Terra the rock as a witness…); **Quinn and His Quill** (yes, again! Seth is finally here (and I didn't steal him from you, so don't sue!). I hope you like him too. As for Raven's dream… I didn't slip up, so _nyah_! You will _see_ why Terra didn't lose her powers… a _very_ long way away from now…); **Seductive Angel **(you can't _ban_ me from liking Robin! I _don't_ insult Robin! _Much_… yes, I call him a whore, but that's not making fun of him; it's the _truth_, I'm afraid. The sad, sad truth… But I usually write him in a _very_ good light, like he is the only one with a brain. You can't hate me for _that_…); **Coolteenzz **(um, okay, how does this parallel your life exactly? Care to enlighten me, I am most intrigued… mwa ha, actually, you don't have to say if you don't want to… As for seeing my name on other forums… that might be Deviant Art or something. I haven't joined any other forums 'cept this one, but there is some fan-art for _Small Print_ which would probably mention my name there somewhere… maybe that's where you saw it…); and **YamiTai **(aww, you went and sat in a public library just for _me_? Just to review:) _Thankyou_!). **Thrillzone**, wherever you are… I hope you like this too…

And now… I present to you Seth Elliott (among other things)…

Sweet Little Lies

Robin slowly drifted awake, the leisurely relinquish of slumber gentle and pleasant as he came to his senses.

Sunlight streamed through the balcony archway and fell across the silk sheets of the huge four-poster bed in which he lay, the curtains of both the balcony and those around his bed being pulled back. Even still sleepy as he was, he frowned.

_That's odd. I don't remember leaving the balcony curtains open…_

He was lying on his back, one wing folded, the other stretched out to its full extent across the king-size mattress. The entire room was drenched in sunlight and his sheets were tangled around his lower half, as though he had been thrashing around in his sleep.

_Must have been a bad dream…_

He couldn't remember. His mind was blank. He couldn't even remember getting into bed the night before.

Something felt weird, though, but he couldn't place it for the life of him. His senses seemed to be sort of slow, and although he was trying to comprehend everything, he was finding it difficult to even get his bearings.

_Ok, I'm in Azarath, and my name is Robin. That's a start…_

He absently put a hand to his chest, expecting his fingers to close around something. He was surprised when he felt nothing. He wasn't even sure what he was supposed to have found, but whatever it was, it wasn't there…

Maybe he'd remember stuff a little better after he was washed and dressed. He shifted to get out of bed and the realisation hit him like a punch in the gut. The sheets were cold and sticky and…

They…

…were…

…_wet_…

_Oh, no… no no no… this can't be happening… this just **can't**…_

He stared down at himself in horror and dismay and it all came back to him in a rush. Last night with Raven, the way she had screamed in pain and gone demonic on him and bled, and the dream…

_The dream…_

His sex dream teasing had smacked him back in the face; he really _had_ had one and he had climaxed of his own accord during the night…

_Wet dream. Real smooth there, Batboy…_

That was what had felt strange; that, and the fact that under those wet sheets he was naked. It had taken him at least five freakin' minutes to figure it out…

_What's happening to me?…_

He ran a hand through his silky, untidy hair. Those senators might be the authority on this whole thing, but he knew better than anyone else that, somehow, his body was changing, and it wasn't puberty. It was something entirely different, something even more scary than adolescence, and he knew that before long it would have killed him. Ok, fine; wet sex dream. It could be put down to his changing male chemistry; had he still been normal he would have been as pissed off, certainly, but not as surprised or indeed, worried. But he knew he was _not_ normal anymore, and that dream had not been a normal sex dream, either. It had been _primal_, and he was not savage in that way, and he knew that Starfire, while being an alien, was not that way inclined either. In any other circumstances it could be classed as a… well, _nightmare_, almost. But last night, for _him_ it had not been; it had been pleasurable for his changing being, because he had experienced a sedated orgasm. He did not know which part of his mind that dream had been conjured from, nor had he realised he _possessed_ such a corner of sedated thought.

And Starfire… that still confused him. If he was honest, it was not the first time he had… _dreamt_ of Starfire, but she had never been that way, never been that savage incarnation that was more alien than Tamaranean Starfire could ever be. And why had it even _been_ Starfire? He _liked_ Star, sure, but after having just… well, it should have been _Raven_ he had dreamed about.

In theory.

But he bent theory now, just as he bent the laws of nature and reality. He knew that. He was a perfectly normal human boy; or rather, _had_ been.

Now he wasn't.

He decided he'd sort out the wet-sheet-dilemma after his morning bathe, and leaned over the side of the bed to fish for the towel he had thrown there the night before. He rescued it, pulled off the wet silk sheets and wrapped the white towel around his waist. He wanted his robe but it was covered in Raven's blood so he was stuck to being Towel-boy again.

However, instead of heading to the door of the room to make his way to the bathroom, he went to the balcony and stepped out onto the sunny stone, feeling its warmth beneath his bare feet. He wandered over to the stone rail and leaned on it as he looked down, a cool, pleasant breeze blowing on his face and bare torso and rippling his hair. The lake was stretched below, as clear and blue and still as the swimming pools in TV ads for Caribbean holidays. A few large rocks broke the surface near the side nearest the balcony, and around the edges the land on which the Senate House was situated jutted out slightly, creating almost a pool, with a barrier leaving just the smallest gap allowing access to the rest of the huge lake. These thin strips of land creating the barrier were alive with more lush tropical vegetation, ferns and palms and bright flowers and vines so that it looked like a tiny portion of tropical rainforest. Further beyond the barrier sprawled the rest of the lake, leading over the edge of the gentle waterfall, and the tiny island, the tallest willows and palms clear against the cloudless blue sky.

He wondered if the blood was still on the grass…

It was like being on vacation. Sort of. Except he was here to be saved, not pampered. But still, the sky was blue, the sun was shining from its mid-morning position, and he had the run of a palace fit to beat the best resort in the entire world into the ground. He didn't feel like going down to the bathroom, though…

He got over the edge of the balcony, removed his towel, fluttered halfway down and then dropped, diving gracefully into the lake. He arced under the water, his wings opening, and broke the surface with a gasp. He shook his hair out of his eyes and treaded water for a bit, his wings spread out flat on the surface of the water to easily keep afloat. The water was cool and pleasant and felt more refreshing than any bath or shower he had ever taken.

Plus he was naked. It was sort of invigorating, really; almost like a triumph from his point of view.

_Skinny-dipping. Yay._

He dove under the surface again and swam underwater across the whole length of the "pool". He found that he could swim faster – his whole body felt more powerful – and could hold his breath for much longer than he ever could have before. It was strange to him, but he liked it. He felt so different, even to the way he had felt last night. He worked out a lot; he was obviously quite strong, slim but well-toned, and his body was capable of truly amazing things when it came to acrobatics and martial arts. But _this_ feeling was new to him. His whole body just felt harder, tighter, sort of animal. He felt like a weapon. He was bigger too; he could feel that as well. He was taller and had filled out slightly, as though he was suddenly older. He didn't know what was happening to him, but _this_ was one side-effect he could put up with.

He swam up and down for a while, underwater, enjoying the feeling of how powerfully he now cut the water, then took a break, just splashing idly. However, even as he did so, he couldn't shake off the weird feeling he was getting. Almost like someone was…

…_watching him_…

He didn't like it. He swam over to one of the huge rocks jutting out from the water like icebergs and took refuge behind it. Still treading water, he clung to the rock and peeked around the edge of it, his eyes narrowed. The feeling was getting stronger and he wasn't sure why. Sure, everybody got those feelings sometimes, but _this_ was different. He could almost _sense_ someone's presence, like an animal instinct.

His suspicions were confirmed as he heard laughter coming from the direction of the tropical-clad barrier. He ducked back behind the rock, trying to figure out what to do. It wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't been naked, but his room hadn't exactly been supplied with silk swimming trunks. He had noticed that the Azarathians were kind of into not wearing an awful lot, particularly when swimming or bathing or sleeping – he hadn't been given any pyjamas, either. Still, it was degrading. He hoped it was only Beast Boy or Cyborg; he didn't exactly want to be caught swimming naked in a lake by _anyone_, but if anyone, he would rather it be his friends.

He would _die_ if it was Starfire.

But it wasn't any of his friends; this was confirmed as his spy called out to him. The voice didn't belong to anyone he had ever met;

"Hey, what are you hiding for? I _know_ you're there!"

A man's voice.

"Yo, come over here!" The guy's voice called in continuation. "I wanna talk to you!"

The Boy Wonder, junior detective that he was, couldn't help being intrigued about the guy calling to him. His curiosity overwhelming his embarrassment, he came out from behind the rock.

There was a young man sitting on a rock on the barrier in the shade of a palm tree; he looked as though he _needed_ to be in the shade, as he was wearing what looked like a long black overcoat, not silk robes like any of the other males he had seen in Azarath so far. He was dark-haired and his skin was of a very pale complexion.

He grinned good-naturedly as he saw Robin emerge from his hidey-hole and beckoned him over. Robin dived beneath the surface and reappeared a few seconds later right at the bank of the barrier; he pushed his sopping hair out of his masked eyes as he treaded water, silently gazing up at the guy. He was aware that he was still naked but the water was so blue his lower body kind of faded from view from his naval down.

"Hi," the man greeted him brightly.

Robin raised an eyebrow.

"Um… hi," he returned the gesture. The man's grin broadened and he thumbed at the bank next to him.

"Do you want to get out?"

Robin shook his head.

"No, I'm alright."

The guy shrugged.

"Fine, suit yourself." He leaned forwards, his chin resting on his hands and his elbows on his knees. "You're probably wondering why I'm watching you, huh?"

Robin was quiet for a while; somehow he got the feeling to tread carefully with this guy, whoever he was.

"Uh, yeah… kinda…" he said eventually, shrugging. The guy laughed and leaned back.

"Well, we all wonder things…" he said vaguely, looking up at the clear sky.

_Great, a philosopher… _

The guy leaned forwards again, extending his hand.

"Anyhoo, nice to meet you, kid," he said happily. Robin hesitated, then shook with him. The man grinned as he stood and hoisted the Boy Wonder from the lake by his arm, lightly flinging him onto the tropical bank. Robin landed in a wet tangled heap and struggled to right himself without showing off too much. His wet body glistened in the sun, showing off polished highlights, and it only served as a reminder of the fact that he was naked.

He heard the guy laughing again and burned.

"Have to admit, I got you good there," the man sniggered. Robin snorted and looked up, irritated.

"Yeah, _right_…"

"Ok, don't throw a moody on me," the guy sighed. He sank back onto the rock, reached behind him and produced a towel, which he threw over Robin's head. "I figured you'd need this."

Robin stood, wrapping the towel firmly around his waist, and smoothed his wet hair back, attempting to spike it and failing. His wings were folded and wet too, and his skin still shone in the sunlight.

He noticed the guy was staring at him and it irritated him.

"What!" He snapped, folding his arms.

The guy shook his head.

"Sorry… I just… you're so _unusual_…"

Robin snorted again in disdain.

"I have _wings_. Big deal…"

The man uttered a short, sharp laugh.

"Wings and the _rest_ of the package," he added.

Robin blinked.

"What… what do you mean?..."

The guy smirked.

"Have you even _looked_ at yourself recently?" He put his head to one side, still with the smirk on his face. "'Cause, y'know, I'm liking it. The whole look. It's says "Grrr" to me, you know?"

Robin shook his head; he _didn't_ know, not for the life of him, what the hell this guy was on about.

The man clicked his tongue in exasperation.

"Look, unless you're a vampire – and the wings really _aren't_ giving out a vampire vibe, kid – I'm gonna assume you cast a reflection. So, I resubmit the question; have you looked at yourself lately? You know, as in since last night?"

Robin shook his head again, still mute.

The guy's smirk deepened.

"Then _look_, idiot."

Robin looked down at himself and gasped. _How_ could he not have noticed it before…? His skin, usually pale, was now of a similar hue to Starfire's, almost orange, and the worst of it…

The guy clicked his fingers at him and winked.

"You look good, kid."

"I look like a _tiger!_" Robin wailed.

And he did. At intervals across his newly-tanned flesh were streaks of an even deeper colour, almost brown, decorating his legs and arms and chest and back and stomach… exactly like a tiger.

"That's one great tan," the guy went on, laughing a little.

Robin scowled even through his shock. He really, _really_ didn't like this guy.

But even so… how could he not have _noticed?_ His skin had _changed colour_, for petesakes…

He was starting to worry now. What was _happening_ to him? He had sprouted wings, he had grown practically overnight into a taller, buffer version of himself, and now his _skin_…?

Not to mention last night, first with Raven going psycho on him, and then that savage dream that had somehow been erotic to him…

"Yo, lighten up!" The guy said brightly. "It's not _that_ bad. You look kind of interesting now."

Robin glared at him and the guy put his hands up in surrender.

"Ok, ok, tender subject," he said with a laugh. "Point taken."

Robin studied him through narrowed eyes.

"Who are you, anyway?" He asked cautiously. The guy laughed.

"Oh, yeah, jeez… how rude of me!" He stood up and offered Robin his hand again. Robin eyed it sceptically and didn't take it; he wasn't exactly sure he trusted this guy, especially not after the last time they had "shook".

The guy looked at his hand, confused, as though there was a buzzer attached to it.

"What?"

"Nothing…"

Robin sighed and offered his own hand. The guy gave him back his own and they shook.

"I'm Seth Elliott, Head of the Azarathian Senate," the man introduced himself.

Robin blinked.

"_You're_ Seth Elliott?"

Seth Elliott smiled wryly.

"You sound surprised. What's wrong, I'm not all I'm cracked up to be?"

"No, it's not that… I just…" Robin trailed off. He couldn't believe this was _the_ Seth Elliott, the one that Jonathon Vaughan believed to be the worst Head of Senate ever.

Seth took his hand back and Robin looked at him properly, taking him in.

He looked very different to the other senators. His hair was as black as Robin's own, but it was thicker and much longer, falling past his shoulders. He had an untidy fringe too, a flicky, spiky one which consistently obscured his brilliant emerald eyes. His skin was pale like the other senators', and he was tall and slim and lightly-built, like the others. But, as Robin had noticed before, he did not wear robes of brilliant colour. Instead he wore a long black… coat? Or maybe it _was_ a robe, but it was open, made of ebony silk, the lining similarly made of silk but a brilliant crimson. The wide sleeves were edged with crimson too, and the collar was stiff and extended like Dracula's; it looked good, though, and the inside was crimson-lined to boot. Underneath this he wore a white turtleneck wool sweater, even though it looked much too hot for such a garment, and tight black leather trousers which left little of the shape of his long, lean legs to the imagination. On his feet he wore white leather calf-length cowboy boots decorated with silver stars, black leather lacing and metal spurs at the heel. It was a very striking – and unusual – outfit and Robin had to admit the guy looked great in it; it was a good first impression. However, the thing that stood out most about his outfit was the thing that hung around his neck, the chain half-hidden beneath the rolled neck of his sweater.

_The necklace from his dream._

Robin couldn't help but stare at it. It was exactly the same necklace, the one that had been threaded around his neck as Starfire had…

The one he had expected to touch when he had put his hand to his chest when he had awoken.

He watched it glitter now in the sunlight, contrasted against the white of Seth's sweater, and felt strangely cold.

Seth seemed confused and looked down at himself.

"What are you looking at?" He inquired.

Robin swallowed.

"Nothing… I… I just like your necklace…"

"Oh, this?" Seth grinned and touched it fondly. "Yeah, it's pretty cool, isn't it?"

Robin nodded tersely.

"Yeah. It's cool…" In his shock he could not inject any kind of expression into his voice, but Seth didn't seem to notice his flat delivery. Instead the senator clapped his hands together and looked at Robin over the tips of his clasped fingers.

"So, I guess we've got plenty to talk about, huh?" He said brightly.

"Yeah." Robin nodded again, feeling sort of stupid.

"Ok, well, you go up to your room and get dressed, and I'll meet you in the lounge room in… ohh, say, ten minutes?"

Robin nodded for a third time. Seth grinned.

"Ok, catch you in ten?"

He turned and started to make his way around the curved edge of the tropical barrier back to the main island. Then he paused and turned back.

"I forgot to ask you your name," he said pointedly, frowning at the Boy Wonder. "Marcus told me, but I've forgotten it. Richard, isn't it?"

Robin blinked.

_Richard?..._

_Yes, it is…_

No. Coincidence. It had to be. There was no way Seth could possibly know his _real_ real name. Even the people who knew him as "Dick Grayson", aside from Bruce and Alfred, were usually not aware that his proper title was not "Dick" at all, but "Richard".

"Robin," he corrected. Seth smiled.

"Oh, _Robin_. Of course, like the bird…"

Seth turned on his heel again and swanned off in the direction of the Senate House, his open black robe flowing behind him like liquid. Robin followed his example and took to the air, soaring easily back up to his balcony. He landed and padded back into the room, retrieving his other discarded towel and drying himself off as he went. He found himself some underwear and then slid back the largest mirrored panel to the wardrobe, revealing row upon row of silk robes and kaftans and trousers and cloaks and sashes, every colour of an excessively vibrant rainbow.

However, today he didn't feel like wearing red or green or yellow, or any other colour that required sunshades to look at it; violet or fuchsia or indigo.

He wanted black.

Unfortunately, there _wasn't_ any black in his wardrobe. He, being possessed by a demonic being, was not allowed it.

So he chose white instead, hoping it would look better against his new golden tan that it did against his usually washed-out complexion. Actually, he had to admit it was quite fun, going through all the clothes and picking out an outfit. He wasn't a great one for clothes, and he certainly despised being dragged around the mall by Starfire, but these clothes were different, like nothing he had ever seen before, and he quite liked them.

He eventually chose a white silk short-sleeved top with a mandarin-style collar, the sleeves and neckline edged with silver; it even had zips up the back for his wings. He matched this with a pair of wide cream silk trousers, the legs swamping even his now-bigger build, but feeling so cool he didn't want to take them off.

Now came the even better part.

Accessories.

He went over to the last compartment of the wardrobe and slid it back, revealing the wire racks of jewellery and headpieces and gauntlets and all-out _bling_. He opted for a silver metal "V"-shaped girdle, securing it around his waist and breaking up his all-white outfit, the colour matching the silver borders of his shirt. Then he picked out the arm-piece he had been aching to try out since he had first set eyes on it.

It was a solid silver gauntlet, inspired by limb armour, and went from elbow to wrist, with the end extending beyond the hand to a sharp, polished point. It looked lethal; and, all things accounted, it probably _was_. It was decorated with celtic designs and some kind of weird language, and he really, _really_ liked it.

He admired it as he buckled the hard metal over his left arm, allowing the sun pouring in through the open balcony archway to reflect off it. He went to the dresser and found a comb, taking it back over to the mirrored wardrobe panels. He combed his hair into a passable side-parting, noticing that the ends were still uneven and spiky, and looked at himself in the full-length mirror.

He didn't really know what to make of himself anymore. He looked so different, so _weird_… His skin was no longer its usual milky-pale tone, but instead like a golden tiger's, and against the tight white top he wore he could actually see muscles in his chest and stomach. He was taller and stronger, and his whole body moved with a fluid, deadly ease.

And, of course, there were the wings.

He walked away from the mirror, still comprehending what he had become, and went back to the dresser to leave down the comb. As he put it down something silver glinted in the light. At first he thought it was a quarter and picked it up, wondering where it had come from. It was as he brought it up to his face he realised that it was not a quarter at all, but the tiny silver gear on the piece of cord that Raven had given to him for luck. He had not worn it since he had taken it off to have his first bath.

_I could do with some good luck for a change… come through for me, Ray…_

He threaded it around his right wrist, which felt kind of naked in comparison to his gauntlet-adorned left one, and managed to tie it with some difficulty.

He turned towards the bed, remembering about his – humiliatingly – wet sheets, and he saw, half-horrified and half-relieved, that his bed had been stripped. By whom, he had no idea. It hadn't occurred to him that there were servants or whatever they called them in this place.

He didn't bother with anything on his feet and left his room, padding softly and quickly through the soft-carpeted hallways to the lounge room. He got a bit lost but managed to find it eventually and entered the lushly-furnished room, looking around for Seth Elliott.

He found the Head Senator rooting around behind the mini-bar in the far right corner of the room and went over, leaning curiously over the counter.

"What are you doing?" He inquired, quirking an eyebrow as he looked across and saw that there was a tall sundae glass on the counter next to him.

"Making something for you," Seth said brightly, emerging with his arms full of ice-cream tubs and chocolate and other forbidden things.

Robin looked longingly at the stuff as Seth it deposited on the counter, and then looked up at the senator.

"I'm… I'm not allowed any of this stuff," he said mournfully.

Seth snorted.

"Sure you are."

"No, really… Marcus said-"

"Don't listen to Marcus," Seth interrupted dismissively. "He don't know _nothing_."

Robin blinked.

"But… the demon…"

Seth looked up.

"Kid. _Robin_. Let _me_ handle this," he said, his voice a little patronising. "I know what I'm doing. _I_ say you can stuff yourself stupid on ice-cream." He grinned and winked at Robin. "And I make a _mean_ hot fudge sundae."

"But-"

"Why don't you go and sit down?" Seth told him rather than asked him, ignoring him as he started to open the ice-cream tubs.

Robin didn't see the point of arguing with this guy, and instead slouched over to the biggest couch and sat down heavily. He wondered where his friends were; he had not seen Beast Boy, Starfire or Cyborg for almost two days now.

He listened to Seth whistling happily to himself and couldn't help but notice how… _not_ senator-like he was. All of the others were very quiet and wore robes and were sort of… _morbid_, even Jonathon at times. But this guy was the Head Senator, and he dressed like a punk/biker/cowboy/sorcerer all rolled into one; he was quite bouncy and happy and he made sundaes and assured possessed humans that it was quite ok to _eat_ his sundaes. He didn't seem _real_, to be frank.

And the necklace… that still spooked him. Raven had mentioned that the prophetic abilities of dreams were sometimes surprising, but _this?…_

At the thought of Raven he turned his attention to the tiny gear anklet she had given to him. The gear reminded him slightly of Slade, but it was not of the chunky, rusty variety that had turned high above in the rafters of Slade's original haunt. This gear looked as though it had come from a clock or watch, so carefully and artfully was it crafted. It was made from a highly polished silver metal and sported a tiny design of carved swirling patterns. It made him wonder where Raven had gotten it from…

"What's that?"

He felt a shadow fall across him and looked up to find Seth leaning over the back of the couch, his green eyes fixed on the gear.

"Just a… little cog… _thing_…" he replied dismissively. Seth outstretched his hand.

"Please may I see it?"

Robin hesitated, then untied it and handed it to the senator. Seth practically snatched it off him and the Boy Wonder could hear him gasping and muttering under his breath.

_It's a gear. Get over it…_

"Can I have this?"

Robin blinked and looked up in surprise.

"What?"

"I asked if I could have it," Seth repeated. "_Please?_ I collect interesting pieces of clockwork from the different worlds and dimensions I visit, and _this_ is remarkable."

"_Well_…" Robin bit his lip. It was no loss to _him_, but he didn't want to offend Raven.

"Ok, you drive a hard bargain," Seth gabbled before Robin could even explain. He unclasped his necklace and dangled it by its chain in front of Robin's face. "I'll trade you. You can have _this_ for the gear."

"But… your necklace…" Robin was speechless. "I can't… it's _yours_…"

"I want the gear more," Seth said with a shrug. "I like the necklace but it's commonplace. I guess it's more just sentimental value; I just like wearing it. It's not worth anything."

"But-"

"Great, so it's settled, then?" Seth interrupted happily. He dropped the necklace into Robin's lap and put the gear and its leather cord into the back pocket of his leather pants.

"I can't take this from you," Robin said weakly, holding up the red gem on its chain.

"Sure you can. You like it, don't you?"

"Yeah, but-"

"No buts, kid, it was a fair trade. I got what I wanted, and I want _you_ to have _that_."

Robin sighed in resignation.

"Ok, if you're sure…"

"Sure I'm sure," Seth said with a grin. "Here, let me put it on for you."

Robin looked at it before handing it over, watching it glitter in the light from the windows. It was utterly breathtaking.

"What is it, a ruby?" He asked of the diamond-shaped red crystal.

"No way. It's not some dumbass _ruby_." Seth sounded offended. "It's a diamond."

"But diamonds aren't _red_," Robin pointed out.

"No, not stereotypically," Seth agreed. "But you can get allsorts of weird colours for jewels. You can get yellow sapphires, and you can get blue diamonds. Haven't you ever seen _Titanic?_"

"Me and Cy only liked the bit where the ship actually sank," Robin admitted. "That bit was good; I think we slept through the rest of it."

"Well, this is a diamond. A _red_ one," Seth pressed as he clasped it around Robin's neck. "It's a very special diamond, very rare; only one of it's kind, actually. It's called, rather appropriately, a Blood Diamond."

"Cool." Robin looked down at his chest and saw tiny reflections of broken red light shimmering on his white silk top.

"Isn't it just?" Seth straightened up and looked Robin up and down from where he sat on the couch. "You look good, kid. I like the gauntlet, and the necklace just gives it that final touch…"

Before Robin could even say thanks, Seth had taken off again, back over to the bar. Robin leaned back against the red velvet couch and toyed with the necklace, thinking how weird fate was capable of being. Although… it struck him as strange, almost as though Seth was more desperate for _him_ to have the necklace that he himself was desperate for the gear. And one minute Seth had said that the necklace wasn't worth anything; the next it was super-rare, one-of-its-kind. Surely then, it was worth _something?_

Seth sauntered back over, a tall sundae glass in one hand and a long sundae spoon in the other. The glass was overflowing with layer upon layer of chocolate and vanilla ice-cream, chunks of half-melted chocolate, bits of cookies, chocolate sauce and whipped cream, topped with a layer of sticky hot melted fudge.

Seth followed Robin's wide-eyed gaze to the glass and grinned, offering it to him.

"Here you go; one mean hot fudge sundae," he beamed. Robin only continued to stare at him and didn't take it.

"What's wrong with it?" Seth asked reproachfully, put out by the fact that Robin hadn't snatched it off him.

"Seth… I _really_ shouldn't eat that…" Robin said weakly.

"_Nonsense_," Seth said dismissively. "Come on, you'd better eat it before it melts and turns into a big gooey mess."

He offered it out to Robin again, who again didn't take it.

"Seth, I _can't_…" Robin said desperately. "Marcus _has_ to be right… I want that ice-cream so badly it's painful, and that's _not_ a normal reaction…"

"It's not the _demon_, silly boy," Seth informed him loftily. "Anybody would want one of _my_ sundaes."

Robin stared at him in disbelief. He knew that his desperation for that chocolatey-ice-cream-fudgey death-trap was not normal. He generally wasn't really an ice-cream person. But why couldn't _Seth Elliott_, of _all_ people, understand that?…

"_Come on_, you _know_ you want it," Seth taunted, sitting down on the couch next to him and holding it out.

"_No_." Robin shrank back from it, determined he wouldn't give in.

"Yeah you do. Come on, just _one_ little taste."

"No."

"You _have_ to try it."

"No I don't."

"I'll cry," Seth pouted.

"Fine." Robin looked away.

Seth frowned and dug the spoon into the sundae, up-heaving a small mountain of cream and ice-cream and fudge and chocolate.

"How about I feed you?" He wheedled. "That's not bad then, because you didn't eat it by yourself; _I_ made you do it."

Robin scowled.

"That's not gonna work, you know."

"_Please?_" Seth pleaded. "I really, _really_ want you to eat it. I take such pride in my sundaes…"

He waved the sundae-laden spoon in front of Robin's face.

Robin swallowed.

"I _can't_…"

Seth sighed.

"I'm gonna _kill_ Marcus for filling your head with all his stupid ideas… Look, kid, who's Head Senator?"

Robin looked at him sceptically.

"You are."

"Who's the one who's gonna save your winged butt?"

Robin paused.

"You are, I guess…"

"Damn right. So stay on my good side, kid; eat my sundae."

Seth waved the spoon dangerously close to the tip of Robin's nose.

"I _really_ can't…"

His resolve was weakening, just as with Raven last night. He really desperately wanted that sundae, so badly he was on the verge of pouncing on Seth to get it off him.

"Just try it," Seth pushed. "Just have _one_ little bite, just to taste it, and I'll be happy. _One little taste_."

He broke. Seth handed him the glass and the spoon and he held them tight in fear that the senator would try to take the sundae back.

"Alright," he said weakly. "Just one little taste…"

**TT**

He was almost to the bottom of the glass before Seth finally spoke again; the Head Senator had been sitting watching him scarfing the sundae with his arms folded, one leather-clad leg arranged horizontally across the other.

"You enjoyed that, huh?"

Robin looked up, licking the spoon.

"Yeah, thanks…" He wiped some chocolate sauce from his face.

Seth grinned.

"You want another one?"

Robin leaned back and laid a hand on his stomach, feeling the silver girdle at his waist beneath his fingers.

"I really… don't think I should," he said breathlessly. He knew chocolate had quite a calming effect, but he was feeling… really quite drowsy, actually. He was finding it difficult to keep his eyes open.

He felt Seth also place a hand on his stomach.

"What's wrong? Do you have a stomach ache?"

Robin shook his head, his eyes sliding closed. Seth removed his hand and put it on the Boy Wonder's forehead instead.

"Sleepy?"

Robin nodded. He was losing his grip on consciousness, but even as he did so he couldn't help but notice that Seth… didn't sound too worried that he was suddenly falling asleep.

In fact, somehow he got the idea that Seth might have something to do with it…

* * *

Wet dream for Robin… poor thing, so embarrassing…

_Heh heh heh_…

Seriously, just what _is_ Seth up to?

_Aaaaand_… what did you think of him? Disappointed? Pleasantly surprised? Exactly how you expected? He is a _very_ important character from here on in; _way_ more important than even Jonathon or Marcus, so I hope you like him okay. Well, I hope you can _tolerate_ him, anyway. But tell me what you thought of him; I am very, _very_ excited about hearing your verdicts…

"Interesting" fact about Seth Elliott: He was originally gonna be called "_Scott_ Elliott". Any guesses why? Hahaha… I wanted the surname "Elliott" anyway 'cause it's cool (_pokes Narroch06 in ribs_) and then wanted a forename beginning with "S" because… I don't know, it just seemed to fit. Because he's pretty slick and suave and you know… So I originally picked "Scott" – after Scott Menville, of course. It amused me highly at the time; that the guy "saving" Robin was named after his voice actor… But later – and I don't know how it happened – it evolved into "Seth" and… well, it sounder better. So he became _Seth_ Elliott instead of _Scott_ Elliott.

**YamiTai** – you were right. I did get "Seth" from the Egyptian god of… I think deserts and storms. He's the one who murdered Osiris, anyway…

**Quinn and His Quill** – I did not – repeat: **DID NOT** – steal Seth from you. My grounds; my Seth is better than yours (he doesn't get knocked out, for a start) and features in more than four pages. So _nyah_!

Review, lackeys (please)!

BTW, does anyone else _really_ want a hot fudge sundae right now?

- RobinRocks xXx


	24. Promise Me

Another ASAP update for y'all! Aren't I just _so_ kind to you?

Song at the moment (as if anyone cares): _Dani California_ by The Red Hot Chili Peppers… good song…

Anyway, first of all my reviewers seem to be disappearing… Come back! I'll give you a cookie… Come **ON**, people! I'm on 191 reviews so far! Just another 9 will put me on the 200 mark (something that not even _Small Print_ has reached… _yet_)! Seriously, reviewers… come back, I _need_ you!

Of course, some of you I cannot fault at all, and some have excuses and whatnot… Before I start with the customary gushing, anyone who has read the reviews for this will have seen the latest anonymous one from someone who wrote _stupid_ in the name box… This person remained anonymous and didn't put in their true pen-name (I assume that "stupid" was aimed at _me_ rather than referring to themselves) so that I can't chew them out over their flame. Well, you just go read it… I am gonna assume that "stupid" didn't even _read_ the fic, just made assumptions based on the summary, which does state "RobinxRaven" in the last sentence. So "stupid" will never get this message, more's the pity. However, at the risk of presenting you – the _true_ readership – with a spoiler, the RobinxRaven element to this fic is, firstly, **SO** important it can't be put into words (and I know some of you are not RobinxRaven fans) because of the Orb of Azarath and the prophecies and _blahblahblah_; and secondly… this fic just might not be _truly_ RobinxRaven at all…

Hm?

"Stupid", I can only thank you for reviewing, despite it being comprised of extremely premature assumptions; it's because of _you_ I only have _nine_ reviews to go to reach 200 instead of _ten_! Mwa ha!

To every one else who said _nice_ things; **Rocky-White Wolf of Curses** (I am glad you like Seth. BTW, that part of your mind might just be _right_… or maybe not…); **TheLon3Wolf8986 **(another wolf! I'm honoured that this is one of the first stories you have read! And you actually _like_ RobinxRaven; so much that it's is the reason you _read_ it! So RobinxRaven works for _some_…); **Phoenix Skyborne **(I hope you got your sundae… BTW, I am going to read/review _Changes_… tomorrow! It's beginning to bug me now… But it's over? Seriously? O.o); **Coolteenzz **(hey, give me the address for those AMVs already! I want to see them! And then I can plug them no end in the next chapter! For anyone who doesn't know what I'm on about… you _will_… Oh, and you didn't disturb me, Coolteenzz… just made me kinda curious…); **Me** (I'm _never_ gonna find who you really are, huh? Fine… How did you _imagine_ Seth? And is he _evil_? What in Azarath would give you an idea like _that_…?); **Narroch06** (yes, yes, yes… chapters are _waaay_ too long and detailed… you knew _that_ already… You want to start a Seth Elliott Fan Club? You might change your mind, you know… I hope you got a sundae too, and as for the necklace? You think you know where I'm going? Maybe you do, my friend, maybe you do… and then again, maybe _not_…); **AutumnDynasty** (you _reviewed_! Good luck with those exams, Ms IB!); **Daybreak25** (an _excellent_ speculation you made, Sherlock! There's no point in lying seeing as you will read the answer about ten lines down… you guessed right. As for Seth himself, you will just have to wait and see… And yes, Robin "in a pickle", as you put it, is endlessly amusing…); and to any other readers, including usual regulars **Thrillzone**, **Seductive Angel**, **Quinn and His Quill **and **YamiTai**… I hope you guys all enjoy this too.

Two more things that no-one cares about; One – I apologise for the massive rant about _Batman Begins_ down the bottom. It came out of nowhere… And two – My glimmer of hope for Season 5 is rapidly fading out. _For Real_ and _Lightspeed_ (on today) didn't even have the Titans _in_ them! _Hide and Seek_ was presumably supposed to be funny but really wasn't at all, _Homecoming _made Beast Boy look useless and weak, and _Kole_ was strictly out of Snoozeville… There are five episodes to go and they'd _better_ not disappoint… The only two I have liked so far have been _Trust_ and _Snowblind_…

Promise Me

He knew immediately that something was wrong. He opened his eyes as he came round and shook his head to clear it.

He gasped as he looked around.

He was in the stone chamber he had dreamed about, the flaming torches sitting in brackets in the walls and lighting up the stone interior. He was lying on the circular stone altar in the middle of the room, and he could feel the uneven surface digging into his flesh.

He could feel it because he was naked.

He was lying on his side, completely exposed but for a red silk sash, which was thrown over his thigh-area, covering him from his hips to his lower thighs to give him a little (questionable) modesty. One of his wings was folded over his body like a blanket, the other spread flat out on the stone. His arms were out in front of him, slightly above the horizontal shoulder-line, and his wrists were lashed together with a length of thick leather cord, which in turn was tied to an iron rung sunk deep into the stone. He could move, sit up as nothing else was bound, not even his ankles, but he couldn't get off the altar. He only wore two things, and they did nothing to cover him that the sash didn't do; his mask and the necklace Seth had traded to him; the Blood Diamond on its silver chain.

He sat up a little and tugged at the cord binding his wrists. It didn't give.

Seth had done this. The realisation pissed him off, but it also creeped him out. Seth had made him eat that sundae, he had fallen asleep, and he had now awoken tied to a stone slab, naked.

Which meant that Seth had carried him down here – wherever _here_ was – and had stripped him and tied him to the altar. It wasn't a very pleasant thought; kind of perverted, really, from both points of view.

"Oh, good. You're awake."

Seth stepped out of the shadows, twirling the gear on its leather cord around his finger idly.

"What did you do to that sundae?" Robin demanded.

"I drugged it."

Seth came right over to the altar and rested one cowboy-booted foot against the edge. He slipped the gear back into his pocket and folded his arms against his raised knee. His green eyes were glittering with a strange sort of amusement as he ran his gaze over his captive.

"No hard feelings, ok, kid?" The Head Senator went on airily. "Nothing personal. Well, no… actually, it _is_…"

Robin blinked.

"Why?" He asked incredulously. "It's not my fault the Orb of Azarath got stolen, if that's what-"

"Kid, _chill_, ok?" Seth interrupted, putting his hands up. "I didn't do this 'cause I've got issues with you or anything. I don't really care about that damn orb."

Robin stared at him.

"But you _should_," he pointed out reproachfully. "You're supposed to be its guardian."

"Emphasis on "supposed to be"." Seth grinned at him and delved into one of the deep pockets of his open black robe. He fished out a packet of cigarettes but no lighter, flicked open the packet and took a cigarette from it, putting it into his mouth.

"You don't mind, do you?" He asked through it, looking up at Robin. Robin scowled.

"No," he said icily.

_I mind being drugged, stripped and tied up, though._

Seth nodded and clicked his fingers and a tiny blue flame appeared in the air millimetres from his fingertips. He lit his cigarette from it and it went out as he did so. He inhaled deeply and took the cigarette from his mouth, breathing out a cloudful of swirling smoke.

"That's better," he sighed. He looked at Robin again. "It's not an Azarathian habit," he explained. "Unfortunately I'm on Earth a lot and I've managed to get hooked on it."

"And I'm supposed to feel _sorry_ for you?" Robin asked stonily.

"Nope." Seth dragged on his cigarette again. "Don't mind me; I love smoking."

"It's bad for your health."

"For _your_ kind, yes. Not for me."

"I'm so happy for you."

Seth looked at him, smiling.

"Ooh, _someone's_ bitter," he teased. Robin tugged at his tied wrists again.

"Well, _yeah_. You knocked me out and kidnapped me."

"Yeah, sorry about that…"

Robin snorted.

"Yeah, right… And it was necessary for you to take all my clothes off, too?"

"Yup." Seth took another puff of his cigarette. "Sorry. I know it seems kind of creepy, but I want to keep an eye on your changing form. You may not realise it, but there's a lot going on inside you. With every breath you take, your body is changing, your form is becoming something that it was not before. What is happening to you is far more than any sort of possession; it's an all-out conquest of your being."

Robin stared at him.

"So… so what'll… _happen_ to me?" He asked softly.

"Well, your soul will be annihilated," Seth said flippantly, resting the arm holding his cigarette on his raised knee. "And you'll turn into a monster. Well, there'd be a bit more to it than that, but that's basically what will happen."

"I… I _won't_ die?"

"Not as such. You'll develop a taste for flesh and blood though, though."

"But I don't _want_ to become a demon," Robin said quietly, his voice desperate. "Isn't there _anything_ you can do?"

"Why do you think you're here, kid? You think I did this for fun?"

_Well, yeah…_

Robin didn't answer.

"Of _course_ I can help you," Seth went on, as though he hadn't expected Robin to answer him anyway. "But you have to trust me. I can't help you if you won't let me, you get me?"

Robin nodded mutely.

"Good. Glad we've come to an understanding."

"What are you going to do, then?" Robin inquired. Seth didn't answer and turned away, sitting down on the altar with his back to the Teen Titan; he was quiet for a very long time, looking up at the ceiling. Robin could see the flickering light across his long hair and the back of his robe, and see the glowing end of his cigarette between his fingers.

"You don't know how long I've waited for this day, you know," he said eventually, not facing the Boy Wonder.

Robin blinked.

"Excuse me?"

Seth looked over his shoulder at him, his green eyes glittering.

"You heard me. I've been waiting for this day…"

"What day?" Robin could feel his stomach clenching. Even now, he didn't entirely trust Seth Elliott.

"The day I finally got to meet you," Seth replied, smiling. "I've been a senator for seventeen years I think, and I've been _waiting_ sixteen years, you know. Almost seventeen, actually. Let's see… you were sixteen in spring, and when you add to that the nine months your mother carried you… Yes, that's about seventeen years."

Robin stared at him.

"_What?_" He asked, his voice barely more than a whisper.

How did Seth know his age, how did he know what time of the year he had been born?… That would imply that Seth had known of his existence… his entire life. Before he was _born_, even. And also, if Seth had been a senator for that amount of time, then he would have to have become a member of the Azarathian Senate around the same time Robin – real one Dick Grayson – was born. Coincidence?…

"You seem surprised," Seth acknowledged with a smirk. "I'm pretty familiar with you, Little Avenger."

Robin blinked.

"You… know about the prophecy? I mean, aside from the fact that Marcus would have told you?…"

Seth grinned.

"Of course," he said airily. "I've always known about that prophecy. I'm the orb's guardian, aren't I?"

Robin nodded.

"Yeah, I guess…"

"Those other morons didn't know anything about it, but _I_ did," Seth rattled on. "And I've been keeping an eye on you your whole life, because I knew you were the Avenger. And now, in a twist of fate… here you are."

"_How_ did you know?" Robin pressed.

Seth smirked.

"Oh, there's not much I _don't_ know about you… Richard John Grayson."

Robin's mouth fell open as he stared at Seth, utterly speechless. It hadn't been a fluke; Seth knew his name. His _whole_ name… "Richard", shortened to "Dick", "John" after his father, and of course his English-originated surname "Grayson".

Seth was grinning wickedly at him, his cigarette halfway to his mouth.

"I could write a biography on you, kid," he said flippantly. "I know you grew up in a circus and were part of the aerialist trio "The Flying Graysons" until your parents – that's John and Mary Grayson – were bumped off by one Boss Zucco. I know the hell you went through in the Gotham Youth Centre; I know how you were moved to the Gotham Rectorial Orphanage. I know how you were picked out by that rich pretty-boy Bruce Wayne, only he turned out to be not as brainless as he appeared, 'cause in actual fact he's the Batman of Gotham City. And then he made you swear a pledge to fight for good and justice and all that jazz, and he signed you up as a Junior Batman, otherwise known as the pet name given to you by your own mother; _Robin_. And life was good, until one day this green broad got between you – real bitch called Poison Ivy – and you went your separate ways and you became leader of the Teen Titans **(1)**. So now you and your little friends live in a T-shaped command centre and live it up and fight crime and such like, having allsorts of adventures and misadventures and whatnot… It would make a pretty good TV series, you know."

He took another deep drag on his cigarette and gazed at Robin intently, watching for his reaction.

"So… you've been spying on me… my entire life?..." Robin said eventually, his voice disjointed.

Seth shrugged.

"Pretty much. I'm sort of sad, really."

Robin looked down at the altar.

"So… you know about… last week, too? In the asylum?"

"Oh, yeah… sorry about that, kid." His tone betrayed his words; he sounded kind of amused. "Bastard, that guy."

Robin looked up again.

"Who, Slade?"

"That's the one." Seth blew out a cloud of smoke. He stubbed out his cigarette on the altar, fished in his pocket and lit himself up another.

"You sure you don't mind?" He asked, taking it out of his mouth. "It's just I get a bit short-tempered if I don't have one."

_**Twenty**-one, more like_, Robin thought flatly. He tugged at his binds again, trying to pull the cord free. It didn't budge.

"Hey, you think you could let me go now?" He asked. "Although I don't see why you to drag me down here and tie me up in the first place…"

Seth shrugged.

"I'm Head of the Azarathian Senate," he said carelessly. "I can do what I like."

Robin blinked.

"No you can't," he said incredulously.

"Yeah I can." Seth dragged on his new cigarette again. "I can do whatever the hell I want. You can just stay there, sunshine, 'til I decide otherwise."

The coolness in his voice was starting to scare Robin now. Seth might be going to save him, but the Boy Wonder got the feeling that the senator didn't really care all that much about him. The only reason Seth was bothered about him was because he was the Avenger.

Seth seemed to have lost interest in him now; he was far more interested in his cigarette. He was inhaling deeply, then tilting his ebony-maned head back and blowing the smoke into the air. Robin watched him for a while, then turned his own attention to the leather cord that bound him to the altar. He knew why Seth had removed the gauntlet at least; he would easily have been able to slice through the cord.

"You have fun last night, kid?" Seth broke the silence, smirking as Robin slowly looked up at him, his masked eyes wide.

"_Fun?_" Robin asked, quirking an eyebrow. He had this horrible feeling that Seth knew a little bit _too_ much…

"You know what I mean," Seth teased, still smirking. "Boy, do you know what I mean…"

He smiled around his cigarette as Robin flushed pink and immediately started on the cord again.

"Took its toll on you last night though, huh?" Seth went on, knowing that Robin could still hear him. Robin ignored him, hoping that Seth wouldn't pursue the subject.

Seth did.

"And when you woke up this morning… the sheets were _wet_," the Head Senator went on happily. "_Soaked_, because whatever you dreamt about – and I can guess what – was a little _too_ real, and you _came_ in your sleep…"

Robin looked up sharply.

"How do you know that?" He demanded.

Seth's nasty little smirk deepened.

"Who do you think took away your sheets while you were out splashing about in the lake?" He took another puff of his cigarette. "Thought I'd spare you the humiliation."

"Thanks." Robin's masked eyes narrowed. "And I suppose that cancels out the fact that you've spied on me my entire life, and now you've tied me naked to an altar like I'm some kind of human sacrifice?"

Seth grinned.

"Let me level with you, kid…" He leaned into Robin, his cigarette dangling from his mouth. "You're not human."

He withdrew and got up and stood watching Robin, smirking around his cigarette as he smoked it; the Boy Wonder was just staring up at him, rendered speechless once again.

"What? Of course I'm human…" Robin managed to say eventually. "How could I _not_ be?…"

"Past tense, kid," Seth said dismissively. "You _were_ human, up until last night. But yeah, Marcus was right about the indulgence thing, and you gave in to the greatest indulgence of all. It allowed the demon within you to get a hold on you, and overnight it's been taking over you and making changes inside you. And you look at yourself, kid, and it's pretty obvious you aren't what you were this time last week, what with the wings and the skin and your whole body…"

"But you're going to help me, aren't you?" Robin asked desperately.

"Yeah, in a minute…" Seth didn't seem to be in too much of a hurry. He languidly finished his cigarette, dropped it to the stone floor and crushed it under his white boot. Then he ran a hand through his mane of black hair and cracked each of the knuckles on both hands.

"Fate's a funny thing, isn't it, kid?" He stated rather than asked, pulling the little silver gear out of his pocket and looking at it. "You start at one place, and you end up somewhere completely different. Look at you; born in Gotham City, USA, on Earth, into a tiny circus community, and now sixteen-odd years later, a superhero, a Teen Titan, and now broken from your human heritage and tied naked to a stone slab in an alternate dimension. Weird, huh?"

"Yeah, _weird_…" Robin agreed, distracted. Seth clicked his tongue and dropped the gear back into his pocket.

"Ok, pal, let's get you sorted," he said breezily. He came back over to the altar again, rolling up the sleeves of his robe, and then the sleeves of his white sweater underneath.

"Lie back and try to relax," he instructed. "Breathe deeply and don't panic. I'm not going to hurt you but it might feel a bit strange."

Robin nodded and lay down on the cold stone again. Seth held up his right hand and closed his green eyes, whispering some kind of spell in what sounded like Azarathian. As he uttered it his hand was surrounded by an eerie blue, almost white, glow, and seemed to become almost translucent. Seth's eyes opened again and the brilliant green had been replaced by that same blue/white light, so that they glowed like Raven's or Starfire's when they were in the midst of battle. He made his way over to Robin, his glowing hand outstretched. His translucent fingers touched Robin's bare chest and actually _sank_ into his flesh, without making any kind of mark or cut. Robin gasped and stared down at Seth's arm as his entire hand sank into his chest. Seth was still chanting in Azarathian but he trailed off and looked up at Robin. The glow faded from his eyes so that they retained their normal brilliant emerald hue; and he smirked.

"Sleep tight, kid," he said, his voice malicious and his smirk firmly in place.

It was the last thing Robin witnessed before his soul was torn from his body.

* * *

(1): Events from _Lost in Ecstasy_, which I suppose was loosely based on _Batman and Robin_. Terrible, terrible movie… but it was the first one I saw so I liked it at the time… Favourite now would have to be _Batman Returns_… _Batman Begins_: don't get me started. I seem to be the only Batfan who thinks so, but I found that movie highly insulting. Katie Holmes, a Tibetan-or-whatever Ra's al Ghul (he is _Middle Eastern_! Like, _Arabic_ or something! Do your research! I know they were going for that whole "cool martial arts" feel, but I mean, come on…) and more weird-angled, seizure-inducing fight scenes than anyone ever has good reason to watch all make, in my book, for a really lousy _Batman_ movie. I mean, you can't beat the Burton/Keaton combo. _Batman_ is a _freak_. _Tim Burton_ is a – genius – _freak_. _Michael Keaton_ is a bit freaky too. Three components that make a perfect match. Those Tim Burton movies? That's how _Batman_ is supposed to be, right? Full of weird little oddities, a beautifully-gothic Gotham City and a quirky script laced with black humour. That damn _Batman Begins_… Full of stupid choppy action scenes, a Batmobile that looked more like a tank and Bruce being _seriously_ inconspicuous about what he's up to; "Oh, can you get it in black?". Moron… Like I said, I seem to be the only person who thinks so, but I felt that the purpose of that movie was basically to try and "save" Batman from the perils of Joel Schumacher, a.k.a _Batman Forever_ and _Batman and Robin_. Because let's face it; that idiot (_who_ in their right _mind_ let _him_ direct a _Batman_ film? Were they in a _straightjacket_ at the time?) got hold of the _Batman_ franchise and _strangled_ it. Neon lights, stupid costumes, lame one-liners… It was _Batman: The 60s TV Series_ (which actually I like – I have the movie) all over again. So yeah, I think what _WB _tried to do was revive Batman from that… _George Clooney_ version that killed him off… and their answer for that was basically turning him into an all-out action-hero like Action Man or something. I mean, I know Batman relies on gadgets quite a bit, but… C'mon, _Batman Begins_ was absolute overkill. In trying to make him "cool" again, I think they just went too far. Think of that film what you like; to me it wasn't Batman and although I was originally really excited by it, I have to admit I was disappointed. I really didn't like it; but yeah, I seem to be the only one of this opinion. I haven't come across anyone else who hasn't liked it… so maybe it's just me being difficult. I mean, my "definitive" Batman is probably actually the Kevin Conroy-voiced _Batman: TAS_ version, set in that quasi-40s world. _Sooo_… when your favourite incarnation of the character is the animated version, I guess I can see why Christian Bale in 200lb of black plastic and rubber (pretending to be drunk so people will get out of his house) would look inferior…

Wow… that was a long rant that just came from _nothing_… I'm sorry if I just offended any fans of _Batman Begins_. Please don't flame me just because you don't agree. Know what I find weird? You'd think, in making a _Batman_ movie, the _Batman_ fans would be the easiest ones to please – simply because it's _Batman_ – and then you'd have a hard time convincing everyone _else_. Tch. Yeah, more like the other way around… _Batman Begins_ did not impress _this_ Batfan. End of story.

On a brighter note, I will update soon. What is Seth Elliott up to? Was Jonathon Vaughan right to be suspicious of him? _Or_… is Seth actually _saving_ the day? Perhaps _Jonathon_ is one you should watch…

Curious? Then you gotta _review_, my duckies.

- RobinRocks xXx


	25. Renegade

Welcome to the _mother_ of all ANs…

First of all… _Black Magic_ has its own AMV! Seriously! It was made by **Coolteenzz** and is _awesome_… More about that down below in the "thankyou" ANs…

As a reward for both ploughing through all of the below and for your patience in waiting for this update (as is the usual practice, you would have gotten it sooner if not for the site _refusing_ point-blank to let me upload) you get two chapters instead of just one. The below… is new. The second one is one of the original chapters. The reasons you get two are; a.) because I'm so thankful to you all – I got _EIGHTEEN_ reviews for the last chapter! And there I was thinking my readership was dwindling…; and b.) this new chapter, _Renegade_, is _JUST_ OCs. There are no official characters in here at all. There is a _reason_ for that, but I wouldn't just shove an OC chapter down your throats and leave it at that. It would piss _me_ off immensely; I'd be like… "Uh, yeah… I thought this was a _Teen Titans_ story…?".

So, _huge thankyou_ to; **TheLon3Wolf8986 **(Yeah, _Batman Returns_ was the best… and you dropped writing your _own_ story just to read _mine_? Aww, _thankyou_!); **Daybreak25 **(Seth is both scary and weird. Trust me when I say he's not what he appears. Furthermore, yes; Bat-nipples! _Shudder_… Joel Schumacher already pulled that one on us with _Batman and Robin_. Shame they didn't slip up and put them on Batgirl's costume too; then maybe it might have been banned from being released…);** Quinn and His Quill **(well, I kinda already spilled to you about Seth, but there are still yet more surprises in store concerning him… And at least he's not a crow.); **FaerieRaven **(it's okay about not reviewing; I suppose exams have to come first. I am glad that you like Seth too!); **Rocky-White Wolf of Curses **(yep, the Batmobile sucked and the old Alfred was great… As for Jonathon – Yuh-huh, he's a suspect just because I said so… Hey, _I_ wrote it!); **Me **(whoever you are… just glad this fic brightens your day! Also, I told you the sad, sad truth about _Lost in Ecstasy_ and _Robin Goes to Hollywood_… And no, the RobinxRaven part is _FAR_ from over…); **Phoenix Skyborne **(_Gasp_!_Batman_ and _Batman Returns_ are not crap! If nothing else, at least acknowledge that the fantastic cartoon show we all love – known as _Batman: The Animated Series_ – takes much of its inspiration from it… And the finale to _Changes: Nine Months More_ was superb!); **AzarathGirl **(well, I wouldn't call this fic _genius_, but I am glad that you think so anyway… :) And _are_ you gonna trust Seth?); **Kougraness **(let's just agree that all my incarnations of Robin have clothes issues… that is, yes, he doesn't stay in them for very long… BB and Cyborg are back in the next chapter, now up! Don't worry, I didn't forget about them!); **YamiTai **(still the steadfast original Jonathon fangirl, huh? Then I think you will like this chapter, at least…); **Narroch06 **(don't start with me… you can't touch this! _Na na na na, na na, na na_… Can't touch this:P BTW, you're the kind of person that _begs_ to be pushed off cliffs (not real ones; I mean the cliff-hanger variety…). I think it's because your reviews are little short of psycho…); **Apocalyptic Omens **(wowww… that is an awesome pen-name… Those are some good speculations about Seth (which, yeah, is an awesome name, no?) and I am glad that there is another Jonathon fan. You will like this chapter too, I think… On the movies; okay, I will give _Batman Forever_ points for having Jim Carrey in it (he was an excellent Riddler, expanding on Frank Gorshin's performance in the 60s TV series to the point where it was just plain scary), and death to Katie Holmes! Or her useless Rachel Dodson character, at least… Ooh, and Raven has a _huge_ part next chapter!); **Seductive Angel **(yes, you are cruel to me. I am glad you are so enthusiastic about Seth, though… And yeah, you gotta love the "Heart of the Ocean" on _Titanic_…); and last but _certainly_ not least, **Coolteenzz **(no, you aren't spamming)…

…Everyone, listen up! _Black Magic_ has its own AMV, like I said up top! Created by **Coolteenzz**, it's an absolute _must-see_ if you have read this much of the fic! It is incredible; it has quotes from the fic in there, and how she got around all the weird things like Robin having wings and developing Raven's four eyes and stuff was _extremely_ clever… It kinda overlaps a little with _Asylum_, I think; I mean, it has Slade kicking the crud out of Robin in there, anyway… It is to something called the _Ghost Love Score _by Nightwish and it's a full ten minutes of awesomeness… Lots and lots of Robin, much RobinxRaven, some parts of Slade beating up Robin/being awesome and even Trigon got in there… I **LOVE** it; and I _demand_ that you all love it too! Also, anyone who reads _Small Print_ (co-written by Narroch06 and myself – it's been updated, BTW) will know that it has another AMV inspired by it. The first one was made by Citrus02honey to Evanescence's _Going Under_; Coolteenzz has now added to the arsenal by creating the wonderful _Crawling_ (the Linkin Park _Reanimation_ version), and it even has quotes from the fic in there too. It's spectacular! If you want to see either or both of the AMVs, copy and paste this into your browser bar and get rid of the spaces;** www . youtube . com / user / coolteenzz**

It shouldn't be too difficult to locate _Crawling_ (_Small Print_) and _Ghost Love Score_ (_Black Magic_) once you're on her page. I hope you all love them as much as I do. Coolteenzz, thankyouthankyouTHANKYOU so much for both of the AMVs and for taking the time and effort to make them. Believe me, they are _not_ in any way unappreciated;I don't know what I did to deserve such wonderful fans, but I must be doing _something_ right… :)

Lastly, to anyone who thinks it odd that, in this chapter, Jonathon and Marcus speak to each other in a very informal manner (for example, they use slang and abbreviations), just remember that although the chapter is of course written in English – and therefore so is their dialogue – they are not necessarily speaking to each _other_ in English. It would more than likely be Azarathian – if that language exists, so think of the below as a "translation". Hence, the informal language between them. I should think their informal grasp of their own language would be much greater than that of English, which they use to address Robin, etc.

If anyone dislikes this chapter, take it up with Narroch06, because it's her fault. Oh yes it is, don't deny it… _(coughFAKEcough)_

**Coolteenzz**, you get another _ardour_. These next two chapters are dedicated to you. Congratulations! Also this chapter in particular is for **Narroch06**, because the developments are her fault.

Wow… that's gotta be my longest ever AN…

Renegade

"What did he want with you?"

"Hmm?"

Marcus Vandiver looked up at his addressor as he shut the heavy wooden door to his study behind him; Jonathon Vaughan was sitting on his desk, sipping an ice cream soda with an extremely bored look on his face.

"Jonathon…"

"Yeah?"

"Mind getting _off_ my desk?" Marcus jibed irritably, running a hand through his hair.

"_Tch_, it's not like you _use_ it anyway…" Jonathon remarked, sliding off. He ran a finger along it and held it up. "See all that dust? That's from _disuse_! I mean, _really_, Marcus… _soooo_ busy tidying up _Seth's_ stuff you don't bother to do your own. Or _mine_," he added as an afterthought. He looked down at his emerald green robes in disgust, brushing off some more dust.

"Why should I do _yours_?" Marcus asked, irked.

"Because I'm a lazy bum and won't do it myself?"

"Got that right…"

"_Soooo_…" Jonathon sucked loudly (deliberately) on his straw. "What did that bastard _want_ from you?"

"You mean Seth?" Marcus frowned. "You shouldn't talk about him like that; you should have more respect." He folded his arms. "And you should have more respect for _me_, too, come to think of it. I'm the _Vice_-Head Senator."

"Uh-huh. So I _heard_." Jonathon stirred his soda absently with straw. "So what? I've been beating up on you for years; why should I quit now?"

"Because I'm a _higher rank_ than you!" Marcus snapped. "You know, I can have you dismissed as a senator, or give you orders, or—"

"Yeah, yeah," Jonathon interrupted irritably. "I'm real proud of you. Whatever. Now quit changing the subject, _sir_; _Seth_. _Talk_."

"He's back."

"I _know_."

"He wanted to see me…" Marcus' demeanour sobered up considerably. "It was… about the _Avenger_…"

"The kid?" Jonathon clarified, wandering over to Marcus' bookshelves, his soda in one hand. "Robin? How's he doing?"

"Not… not too good…" Marcus' tone faded towards the end of the sentence; but Jonathon turned sharply to him even so.

"Define "not too good"," he said carefully.

"As in…" Marcus sighed heavily, putting his forehead in his hands. "…The demon took over him completely…"

Jonathon dropped his soda; neither senator flinched at the sharp sound of breaking glass on the marble floor of Marcus' study.

"_What?_" Jonathon whispered hoarsely.

"You heard me," Marcus replied miserably. "He wasn't strong enough… It must have… _devoured_ his soul…"

Jonathon crossed the study and took Marcus firmly by the shoulders.

"And have you _seen_ him?" He demanded. "Have you _seen_ the state the boy is in?"

Marcus shook his head, sweeping his dark brown hair back with the movement. He reached up and prised his friend off, smoothing his purple and silver robes down.

"No, that is why Seth requested to see me. He told me of the boy's state and wishes me to accompany him down to the dungeons to see for myself momentarily. He said he would come for me in a few minutes time."

Jonathon blinked.

"_Dungeons_?"

Marcus waved it away irritably.

"The disused sacrificial chambers, whatever…"

"And the kid's down there _because_…?"

Marcus rolled his blue eyes.

"Oh, use your _head_, Jonathon!" He snapped. "The boy has been taken over by the demon within him. Seth said he had to restrain him down there."

Jonathon snorted with pained laughter.

"Tying the poor boy up in the dungeons?" He repeated incredulously. "Well, why doesn't _that_ surprise me? That's _completely_ Seth's style!"

Marcus scowled.

"You should have more faith in the Head Senator," he said reproachfully.

"And _you_ should get _your_ head _examined_!" Jonathon spat back. "What is this, reverting back to those days centuries ago when the monks of Azarath used to practice human sacrifices to appease the goddess Azar? You _know_ those sacrificial chambers have been out of use for centuries, and for _good damn reason_!"

"I trust Seth incessantly," Marcus said snippily.

"Oh yeah? Well, newsflash, Mr Kiss-ass _Vice_-Head Senator; _I don't_!" Jonathon snapped. "Are you _blind_? Can't you _see_ he's crazy?"

Marcus shrugged cautiously.

"I agree that some of his methods are… _different_," he replied quietly. "A little _renegade_, even, but—"

"_Different_?" Jonathon accentuated incredulously. "Marcus, he is _insane_! You can't just go around tying people up. I tell you, when _Raven_ finds out what Seth did to her friend, she's gonna be _supremely_ furious. And some of that other stuff he's involved in, all that black magic and dark arts—"

"You _know_ that's his area of expertise!"

"Yeah, and that's what _worries_ me!" Jonathon burst out. "He's the _Head Senator_, as you keep _reminding_ me! Doesn't it give you the heebie jeebies that he fools around with all that stuff? And all the time when he isn't here… Marcus, what is he _doing_?"

"That's not for _us_ to know," Marcus said piously. "If it were, Seth would tell us himself…"

"I don't trust him."

"I know," Marcus replied coolly, "and I'm pretty sure _he_ does too."

"_Good_." Jonathon nodded. "That's a _good_ thing…"

"Yeah, if you're looking to get _kicked off_ the senate council! You _know_ he can easily replace you…"

"The same applies to _you_, Marcus Vandiver," Jonathon told him icily. "And the _rest_ of the senate. He doesn't _really_ value our opinions, Marcus; not even _yours_."

Marcus' scowl deepened further.

"That's _not_ true."

"_Tch_, yeah; I _forgot_!" Jonathon turned away, folding his arms. "You're his little _pet_, aren't you? His _protégé_?" He smiled wanly. "Dear me, Marcus… how could I _forget_ how you gaze at him during meetings, how you jump whenever he says your name… You're just out to _kiss_ his _ass_, aren't you? You _want_ his attention, his praise… Azar, you know… you're even starting to _act_ like him!"

Marcus was floored for a second or two. Then;

"_Act_ like him?" He sniped angrily. "_How_?"

Jonathon looked over his shoulder at him, his hazel eyes narrowed.

"The sudden cold way you act, like you don't have any compassion or feelings… And isn't that what the teachings of Azar _are_, Marcus? To _embrace_ compassion? To become empathic about our feelings so that we may understand ourselves and those around us…? Seth's the only one I've ever seen shirk that approach, but now… _you're_ beginning to do it too. The way he deals with things is almost… _calculating_. Cruel. Cold. He's so… _mercenary_…"

Marcus snorted.

"And I'm "mercenary" too, huh?" He barbed.

"Not all the time. Just…" Jonathon sighed and turned back to the Vice-Head Senator. "Yesterday afternoon, Marcus. Holding that poor boy under the water like that – you almost _drowned_ him." He shook his head, shivering suddenly. "That was a really… _Seth_ way of going about it…"

Marcus _did_ have the modus operandi to look abashed at the mention of that incident. He remembered Jonathon having to _haul_ him off Robin…

"Maybe he is beginning to rub off on me a _little_," he relented, folding his arms.

"That's not a thing to be _proud_ of."

"Oh?" Marcus' head jerked up again angrily. "And the way _you_ act _is_, huh, Jonathon?"

"_Keep going_," Jonathon breathed lethally.

Marcus leaned into him furiously.

"Believe me, I _will_! You are constantly _late_ for meetings, sometimes you don't come at _all_; and when you _are_ there you pick fights with the others or sit and make snide comments about Seth when he's not there. Not to mention your complacent and completely laid-back attitude and your lack of respect for Seth and myself, both of whom are in higher positions than yourself! Are _you_ proud of _that_ behaviour, Jonathon?"

"Look, I don't have any respect for _you_ because I've known you for, like… _forever_… and I can kick your ass. And I don't have any respect for _Seth_ because he is a _sick jerk_ who doesn't deserve _any_ respect from _anyone_!"

"Senate ranking is of more value than personal opinions," Marcus countered coldly. "I think it's time you figured that out."

Jonathon blazed.

"And when did you come up with _that_?"

"Seth—"

"—Brainwashed you. Should've _guessed_."

"Seth has never _brainwashed_ me!"

"Close _enough_. What exactly _is_ it about him you find so fascinating, huh? _My_ personality might have much to be desired, my friend, but _Seth_? He _lost_ the _orb_, Marcus! _The Orb of_ _Azarath_! _Our_ orb!" He moaned, tugging at his auburn hair in despair. "I don't like to even _speculate_ what the consequences of the fulfilment of that prophecy would be…"

He looked up at Marcus, who still looked remarkably angry.

"What _happens_ now, Marcus? With the Avenger, I mean? Now that he's fully possessed…?"

"Only _Seth_ knows the answer to that, Jonathon."

Jonathon chuckled dryly.

"Well, _now_ I'm filled with confidence… Head Senator, and _guardian_ of the Orb of Azarath, and he doesn't even know where it is… And the _Avenger_ is trussed up in the dungeons of the Senate House, all demonic and frothing at the mouth. _Nice_."

"You think there's a _better_ way of dealing with this situation?" Marcus laughed harshly. "I'd like to see it, Jonathon! Moreover, I'd like to see _you_ deal with it!"

"You _know_ this isn't right, Marcus!" Jonathon snapped back, his hazel eyes flashing. "You _know_ this isn't how the Azarathian Senate should deal with things! Tying the boy up? We should be _helping_ him, Azar damn it! Exorcism spells, purging charms… _Azar_, the entire _senate_ should be _down_ there, right now, _dragging_ that thing out of the Avenger!"

"Stop blaspheming, Jonathon." Marcus' tone was brittle. "Your outbursts and angry words do not gratify Azar; that much I assure you…"

"I think we have a bit more to worry about here than _blaspheming_, Marcus!"

"Jonathon, Seth told me that he tried _everything_…" Marcus' voice had become weary now. "All the exorcism spells he knows… _everything_, Jonathon…"

He looked away as Jonathon took him by the elbows.

"What do you mean, _everything_? You mean, even _he_ can't…?"

Marcus bit his lip, shaking his head slightly.

"Seth said… he can't get it out of him… The boy… the Avenger… is as good as dead…"

Jonathon's grip tightened on Marcus' elbows until he looked at him; the auburn-haired senator's face was contorted into an angry scowl.

"So he's gonna _kill_ him, huh?"

Marcus blinked.

"I didn't say that." His expression became extremely worried. "He… he wouldn't… do you think?"

Jonathon snorted.

"You _kidding_ me?"

"Okay, maybe not what _you_ think…" Marcus bit his lip anxiously. "But… the prophecy… To _kill_ the boy… would be to _fulfil_ it…"

"And _voilá_!" Jonathon spat. "So Seth's _not_ on our side after all…"

"I didn't say that either…" Marcus shook himself free and went to the bookshelves. "Jonathon, _please_… Don't pick a fight with Seth over this. We don't need it right now…"

"And what if he _is_ going to kill him?"

Marcus looked over his shoulder at his friend.

"Why _would_ he?"

"The boy has been taken over, Marcus; that means he's a _demon_. And let's suppose that Seth's _not_ lying, and that he really _can't_ get the thing out of him… What else can you _do_ with a demon but _slay_ it, Marcus?"

Marcus was floored for a second or two. Then;

"He _wouldn't_. He's the Head Senator, and he _obeys_ the laws of Azarath. By decree of the goddess Azar you know as well as I do that it is _forbidden_ for senators to slay the defenceless and weak – and that _includes_ those possessed by demonic influences. If Seth wishes to obey the law… then he _cannot_ kill the Avenger…"

Marcus exhaled heavily as Jonathon stalked over to him.

"You think that's gonna _stop_ him?" He hissed. "You _know_ Seth doesn't obey the law, Marcus, be it the law of the Senate or the law of Azarath itself! You said it yourself that he was, if nothing else, _renegade_! You _know_ he screws around with black magic and all those forbidden books in the Senate House Library; you _know_ he disappears for weeks, even months, on end and never tells anyone where he's going or when he's coming back! Azar, Marcus… you could tattoo "Thou Shalt Not Kill" across his forehead so he would see it every freakin' time he looked in the _mirror _and it wouldn't _stop_ him!"

"Jonathon, _stop it_!" Marcus snapped. "For Azar's sake, you _hate_ him so much, don't you?"

"You _just_ figured that out?" Jonathon snorted. "Marcus, I can't help but be worried about that poor boy down there… You _know_ Seth is reckless, you _know_ he doesn't follow the rules…" Jonathon sighed heavily. "And Marcus… _you_ know as well as _I_ do that somehow, one way or another, that boy is going to _die_ by Seth's hand…"

"I don't believe that," Marcus replied testily. "If he's _so_ bad and merciless, why hasn't he bumped _you_ off yet?"

"I'm sure _I'm_ living on borrowed time, too."

Marcus snorted in disgust.

"Come on, _he_ doesn't dislike _you_ at all; _you_ just hate _him_."

"Because I don't _trust_ him!" Jonathon sounded exasperated.

Marcus drew himself up to his full height instead of cowering against the bookshelves, which Jonathon practically him _pinned_ to.

"I figured _that_ out too," he said coldly. "Unfortunately for you, Jonathon, whether you _trust_ or _like_ him doesn't come into it. You _aren't_ Head Senator, so I'm afraid you have to obey Seth's wishes; and _mine_ too, as a matter of fact. And so, whatever Seth decides to do… there's not a _damn_ thing you can do about it."

Jonathon stared at him for a few seconds.

"What has _happened_ to you?" He whispered finally.

Marcus returned his gaze balefully.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"You damn well _know_!" Jonathon spat, suddenly furious. "These past few months… there are times when you just act so distant, so high-and-mighty… when you act like _him_! Azar, that position of Vice-Head Senator has seriously gone to your head…"

"I merely follow Seth's behavioural example."

"Seth is a _bad_ example!" Jonathon burst out. "Why do you trust him so? What has he _ever_ done to prove himself to you?"

Marcus regarded his friend icily for a few seconds; then tried to push past him. Jonathon successfully blocked his way and roughly shoved him back against the shelves again.

"_Jonathon_—!"

"That boy's _life_ is at _stake_ here, Marcus!" Jonathon interrupted, grasping the front of Marcus' dark violet and silver robes. "And Azar _damn_ you if you think I'm just going to stand here and allow Seth to…"

"To _what_?"

Jonathon dropped his gaze.

"Marcus, he's no good," he said finally; quietly. "He's no good for _anyone_; not for Azarath, not for… anyone…" He grasped at his auburn hair in anguish. "I'm afraid I can't _help_ but be worried about Robin and what is to become of him…" He looked up again. "And you know… I worry about _you_ too…"

Marcus blinked in surprise.

"_Me_? Why?"

"Because you're so in awe of him. He treats you like his protégé, like he thinks he taught you everything you know, when it's _not_ true. And Marcus… maybe you don't notice, but he manipulates you. He brainwashes you so slightly that _you_ don't notice – but _I_ do. You say that you don't act like him but you _do_, Marcus. Not intentionally – you probably don't even realise. But you _do_ act like him… and I think that's just what he _wants_…"

"Why would he want me to act like _him_?" Marcus barbed reproachfully.

Jonathon shrugged.

"So you'll side with him?"

"_When_?" Marcus urged. "What in all of Azarath are you _talking_ about? We're all on the same side, Jonathon; that of peace and good. You, me, the others, Raven and her superhero friends… _even_ _Seth_."

Jonathon released the front of Marcus' robes.

"I don't _know_, okay?" He sighed finally. "But I'm telling you now, one day he's going to turn on us…"

"And you think I would be at _his_ side rather than the side of the Azarathian Senate?" Marcus inquired waspishly.

Jonathon shrugged hopelessly again.

Marcus snorted.

"Thanks a _lot_!" He said stiffly. "You obviously think very highly of me…"

He tried to walk away again; and again Jonathon blocked him.

"I _do_," the auburn-haired senator pressed. "I _do_ think highly of you… but I _worry_ about you too. I can't help it. I just… just don't want him to _hurt_ you…" His voice dropped to a desperate whisper.

Marcus backed against the bookshelves again, his indigo eyes wide. Jonathon frowned at him.

"What?"

The Vice-Head Senator opened his mouth to reply but couldn't get any words out.

Jonathon was very, _very_ close to him.

Marcus wasn't sure if Jonathon even _realised_.

"I…" Marcus began in a strangled voice. He cleared his throat and tried again; "How… how would he _hurt_ me?"

Jonathon shrugged offishly.

"As long as he doesn't start _you_ screwing around with black magic…"

A rare smirk crossed Marcus' pale face; Jonathon blinked, seeing it in the close proximity.

Marcus wasn't the smirking type. _He_ smirked – as did _Seth_.

"And what would _you_ do if he _did_?" Marcus inquired, his voice low; demanding, but… mocking…

He noticed that Jonathon's' hazel eyes weren't focused on his indigo ones; rather, they were watching his mouth form the words.

Marcus' blue eyes narrowed.

"Are you-?"

Jonathon kissed him.

Just a small one on the mouth; pressing his lips against those of the other senator.

For a few moments Marcus simply _stood_ there; and then, for a few moments more, considered blasting Jonathon across the study.

He didn't.

He opened his mouth and kissed back; because it suddenly felt like the right thing to do.

Like it was the only way to settle their differing opinions on Seth Elliott.

He pulled Jonathon against him and for what couldn't have been more than a minute – although it felt much longer – they just kissed and touched and _learned_.

And then, just as suddenly, Jonathon broke away and Marcus pushed him off again. Both caught their breath, not looking at each other.

"_What_ in Azar's name…?" Marcus panted, running a hand through his hair.

Jonathon looked up at him finally, still breathing hard.

Still shaking.

"I don't… know…" He shook his head, straightening up and wiping his mouth on his sleeve. "I don't know…"

"Marcus!"

Marcus whipped around with a small startled gasp; Jonathon followed suit at a much slower pace.

Because he recognised the voice.

Seth Elliott was leaning in the doorway to Marcus' study, his arms folded.

"Seth," Marcus responded, still slightly breathless. He nodded at him, tugging his flowing sleeve sharply away when Jonathan pulled at the cuff of it to get his attention.

Seth merely raised his eyebrows, apparently oblivious of what was between the other two senators.

Seth took his weight from the door frame, straightening up; his green eyes glittered with (there was no doubt about it) excitement. Jonathon scowled at him but Seth wasn't looking in his direction.

"Ready to come down to the dungeons to take a look at the poor Avenger?" He inquired of Marcus.

The Vice-Head Senator nodded vigorously in reply, ignoring Jonathon as he tapped him repeatedly on the shoulder.

Seth gave another curt nod and swept from the study, both his long black robe and hair flowing out behind him.

"_Drama queen_," Jonathon muttered darkly, watching him go. He caught Marcus' wrist as he made to follow the Head Senator from the study.

"_What_?" Marcus snapped, whipping back around; his tone was stricken. "Jonathon, I don't have time to-"

"Keep an eye on him," Jonathon interrupted in a low voice. "He looks _way_ too perky and psyched about this situation if you ask me."

"_Uh-huh_." Marcus narrowed his eyes and pulled his wrist back. "And the _other_ thing?"

Their eyes locked; and Jonathon opened his mouth to stumbled over some justification—

"_Marcus!_" Seth was back, his tone far more urgent and irritable than it had been the first time. "_Now!_"

And then, as though he had just noticed Jonathon, his glittery emerald gaze fell on the auburn-haired senator and he snorted.

"Should've known…"

He snapped his long fingers and Jonathan physically watched in surprise as Marcus' clear blue eyes first widened, and then glazed over, as though he had suddenly gone into some kind of…

…_trance_…

"Marcus, dungeons, _now_," Seth ordered.

Marcus was still for a moment; then gave a jerky little nod and turned away, leaving the study without another word.

Jonathon watched him leave, stunned. Then his hazel eyes narrowed and he faced Seth.

"What did you do to-?"

"Nothing I haven't done to him before." Seth smirked as he watched Jonathon glower; he leaned into the other senator. "You watch your step, Jonathon Vaughan. I can have you dismissed – or better yet, _destroyed_ – if you don't toe the line."

"You're _threatening_ me now?" Jonathon hissed at him.

Seth leaned back, smiling deeply.

"I prefer to call it "forceful negotiation"… But _you_ may call it whatever you wish, as long as you get the message…"

He turned his back on the speechless senator and swept from the room.

And then, just when Jonathon thought he was gone, he leaned back in again, his green eyes wide and innocent.

"By the way, word of advice," he said brightly, his tone no longer low and threatening. "Kissing another senator could get you into a _lot_ of trouble…"

He grinned and winked; and then he truly _was_ gone, disappearing into his Soul Self to join Marcus in the dungeons.

Jonathon stared after him, his blood running icy-cold.

_Azar_… Seth _knew_…

Had he _seen_ them?

Jonathon sank back onto the desk, numb; and then he put his head in his hands and uttered that one word – an English word – that he had _never_ said in his entire life…

"_Shit_…"

* * *

Wa ha ha ha haaaa…!

Think of the above as a sprinkling of icing sugar on an already-iced cake; just a little extra on top to make it even sweeter. However, due to individual differences in people, not everyone likes icing sugar – and those who don't can simply dust it off.

What I am saying is… the content of this chapter (MarcusxJonathon) is there for either those who wanted to see it or those who maybe even _suspected_ it. If you liked it, yay! If you didn't like it, don't worry. It's not a massive major part of the storyline. You can simply dust it off and enjoy your cake without it…

_Mmmm_… cake…

This chapter had two purposes, one of which was primarily to introduce an element of MarcusxJonathon. Please; again I clarify that their relationship doesn't affect the story. In the original they were just friends; in this version perhaps a little more. Either way, it doesn't matter. Their functions are exactly the same in the story whether they have secret feelings for each other or not. So if you did like it, don't be disappointed when nothing more comes from it. If you didn't like it, breathe a sigh of relief. The idea of there being something deeper between them, however, _does_ lend itself infinitely better to later developments that are _already_ in there.

The second purpose of this chapter was to screw around with you all a little more concerning Seth Elliott. To put it bluntly, whatever your suspicions of him are, he's just not a very nice guy. He is very good at _acting_ like a very nice guy, though… He is either the Bad-good guy, or the Good-bad guy…

Well, this development was inspired by _FAKE_. As soon as I read Dee and Ryo I was reminded of Jonathon and Marcus and hence…

_Renegade_.

Onto the next chapter, then! Tally-ho, chaps!

- RobinRocks xXx


	26. Robin Dies at Dawn

A terrible revelation, a death sentence and the return of Beast Boy and Cyborg…

Again, for Coolteenzz.

Robin Dies at Dawn

"Revolution, Cy!"

Cyborg looked up from the pyramid of monkey nuts he was constructing, not really interested in whatever Beast Boy was rambling about this time.

"_What's_ a revolution, B?" He asked wearily.

Beast Boy was perched on the counter of the bar at the end of the lounge room, a huge sundae glass grasped in both hands. He had created himself the mother of all sundaes - a twenty-five-layer _spectaculaire _using just about every kind of ice-cream, sauce and topping he could find -which was leaning precariously to one side as Beast Boy held it aloft triumphantly as though he had just won the Superbowl trophy.

"_This_," Beast Boy explained happily. "It's a revolution in the way of sundaes! I have rocked the world of sundae-making, and it shalt _never_ be the same again!"

"Uh-huh." Cyborg went back to his peanut-pyramid, not in the slightest bit interested; even the green changeling's use of the word "shalt" did not faze him. "Just be sure to clear up that mess you made when you're done."

"You don't even _care!_" Beast Boy said indignantly.

"Nope," Cyborg agreed cheerfully.

"Raven, do _you_ care?" Beast Boy called across the room to the couch, where Raven was sprawled. She made a sort of half-moaning sound, implying "No, you know I don't; now leave me alone before I fry what little brains you have".

Beast Boy clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"Where's Star when you need her?" He asked of the non-present alien girl. "_She_ appreciates my brilliance."

"You mean she's the only one who laughs at your jokes," Cyborg corrected in a bored voice, taking another handful of nuts from the bowl on the mahogany coffee table.

"Same thing."

"No it isn't."

"Yes it _is_," Beast Boy insisted. "Star thinks I'm funny. So does Robin."

Cyborg looked up again.

"B.B, Star only laughs because she doesn't understand half your jokes and therefore thinks _everything_ you say is humorous," he said dryly. "And Robin has the same opinion of your comic talent as _I_ do."

Beast Boy grinned.

"And what's that?" He asked smugly. "It's brilliant? Well-timed? Original?"

"It's non-existent."

Beast Boy's green face fell.

"Oh, _one_ day you'll be sorry, Cy!" He said, hurt. "You _and_ Robin _and_ Raven, when I'm rich and famous from my talents as a comedian and I'm raking in millions of bucks per show. _Then_ we'll see who's laughing, huh?"

"Perhaps," Cyborg agreed offhandedly. "Until then, Beast Boy, do us all a favour, and keep your big mouth shut."

Fuming, Beast Boy held his mountainous sundae in both hands and stalked off to the other side of the room. Cyborg shook his head and continued to build up his pyramid of monkey nuts.

"Why is it that this place has ice-cream, Chinese food and lattes, but no TV or pizza?" Beast Boy called from across the room through a mouthful of ice-cream. "It's just like Earth, but without the necessities. And how come all these people speak perfect English?"

Cyborg looked up again and turned to Beast Boy.

"You know, B, that's a good point," he said. He turned to Raven. "The man's on to somethin', Ray. Care to tell us why?"

Raven didn't open her eyes. She was lying on one of the huge red velvet couches, clad in a high-necked royal blue sleeveless silk dress and matching hooded cloak. Her feet were bare and her hood was down. She felt terrible; her head ached, she felt sick and she was completely drained of energy. And every now and then she would get a burning pain at the back of her mind, a reminiscence of the terrible evil Robin had somehow passed into her last night. She didn't know what he had done to her, but it had hurt, and she knew that whatever it was, it was not good. Had the demon somehow gone from _him_ into _her_, and now _she_ was the one who was possessed?…

It hurt her mind; and it burned her soul.

_Bastard_…

What the hell had he _done_ to her?…

And that dream… it frightened her, even though she had read up on it. Knowing what those things symbolised – the ravens and her pregnancy – did not make it any easier…

"Hey, Raven?" Cyborg pressed. "You ok?"

Raven put a hand to her aching head and sat up.

"Yes, thankyou…" She pulled up her hood, the darkness relieving her a little. "I'm fine…"

Cyborg and Beast Boy exchanged sceptical looks.

"Are you sure?" Cyborg went on, concerned.

"I'm _fine_," Raven repeated irritably. "I've just got a bit of a headache… What was it you asked me?"

"We asked why this place is so much like Earth," Beast Boy told her.

"I don't _know_," Raven moaned, lying back again. "Why would I know? Maybe some of the travellers like Seth Elliott bring back customs from Earth and other dimensions… Does it really _matter?_"

"No," Beast Boy muttered. "'Cept there's no TV…"

"Who the heck is "Seth Elliott", Ray?" Cyborg asked, puzzled.

"Head of the Azarathian Senate," Raven replied, putting an arm across her hooded face. "He's going to save Robin, when he eventually turns up…"

"Where is he?"

Raven shrugged.

"That's what I'd like to know…"

Silence reigned again as Beast Boy went back to his sundae, Cyborg went back to his nut-architecture, and Raven went back to feeling sorry for herself.

Suddenly the huge polished oak doors to the lounge room swung open, signalling someone's arrival.

"Hey, Star," Beast Boy said, not looking up.

It wasn't Starfire.

"Raven, we need to talk," Marcus Vandiver said firmly, not bothering with any kind of formal greeting.

Raven sat up again and looked at him. At once something about him struck her as… _odd_. The way he carried himself, it was sort of… _unnatural_. Not _that_ noticeably, but she noticed it all the same because she had known him so long.

Beast Boy and Cyborg looked up at the senator too and exchanged awed glances; well, those purple and silver flowing robes were _kinda_ awe-inspiring.

"What's wrong, Marcus?" Raven asked, struggling to her feet. She went to him and he took hold of her hands.

"It's… your friend…" He said gently, looking down at her pale fingers.

Raven felt her stomach clench.

"Robin? What's wrong with him? He's… he's alright, isn't he?"

Marcus was quiet for a while; finally he looked up at her and she saw the sadness in his eyes. But there was something _else_ there too; or rather, _lack_ of something. Behind the sadness, there was… _emptiness_…

As though the "sadness" was a mask.

"No. He isn't."

Raven stared at him; Beast Boy and Cyborg were staring at the Vice-Head Senator too, speechless.

"What… is he…?" Raven closed her eyes; she could barely dare to ask… "Is he… _dead?_ Did the demon… kill him?..."

Marcus shook his head.

"I'm afraid it's worse than that, Raven…"

"How could it be-"

"Come with me," Marcus interrupted softly, tugging at her hands. "Come with me and I'll show you."

Raven nodded, feeling even more sick. She turned to Cyborg and Beast Boy, who were watching her intently.

"Stay here," she told them. "I'll be back as soon as I can. If Starfire comes in, don't mention anything."

The two boys nodded, gazing after her as she left with Marcus.

She did not speak at all as he led her through the Senate House, right down below ground-level to the old meditation and sacrificial chambers that had lain here for centuries. She knew that sacrifices to the goddess Arella (_Azar_) were not practiced anymore, but the dungeon-like chambers had never been removed.

She watched him walk and could not place what it was that unsettled her about him. She remembered when the boys – Robin, Beast Boy, Cyborg – had had their bodies stolen by the Puppet King, leaving her and Starfire (in _each_ _other's_ bodies) to save the day. She remembered how the zombified male Titans had carried themselves and found that she could not compare Marcus' behaviour to it; the "puppeted" Titans had walked slowly, slouching unnaturally, and their faces had been slack as though it was too much effort to manifest an expression on them. They had been unable to talk as well.

Marcus was not like _that_.

So what _was_ it that unnerved her?

He eventually stopped outside the metal-enforced door to the furthest chamber. Torches hung in brackets on either side, casting a flickering orange light that now scared her.

"Marcus, why is he down here?" She asked, her voice little more than a whisper. Marcus didn't answer her, instead occupying himself with unlocking the door. It swung open and Marcus gestured for her to go ahead.

She stepped into the cool dungeon and Marcus came in after her, pulling the door shut behind him. Further torches lit the room with a dull, unstill orange glow.

"The altar," Marcus said quietly, placing a hand on her shoulder. She looked across the room at the altar and gasped when she saw him. She broke free from Marcus' grip and ran in her bare feet over to where the boy, once human and once her friend, lay curled up on his side, fast asleep, his wrists tied together to the iron rung sunk into the stone.

He was not human anymore.

It was still Robin's body, but how it had changed… His skin glowed a deep orangey-gold, with darker stripes like a tiger, his fingernails and toenails were slightly pointed and were black. The only thing that spared him from indecent exposure was a red silk cloth over his hip-area, and from beneath this poked a _tail_; it was long and black and matched his wings, with a pointed tip on the end made of some kind of black natural enamel that looked sharp enough to cut flesh with ease. At present it was wrapped around his thigh, the end flicking every now and then, and it was covered in blood as his wings had been when he had first acquired them. From each of his forearms had burst three bony spines, long and sharp and bloody from where they had made their exit, and all down the length of his spine - from the back of his neck to where his new tail began – were little bony ridge-like spikes. His whole build was bigger and more powerful, and although he still wore his mask, she got the feeling that if she removed it, his eyes would no longer be that brilliant blue.

"Oh my… what _happened_ to him?" Raven whispered, horrified, as Marcus's shadow fell across her.

"We do not know," Marcus said softly. His voice was emotionless. "Seth Elliott has arrived in Azarath, you might like to know."

Raven turned to him.

"And has he seen Robin?" She asked frantically. "Does he know how this happened? Can he save him?"

"Raven, I…" Marcus looked at the floor. "I don't know how to tell you this…"

"Tell me _what?_" Raven asked. She heard Robin shift behind her in his sleep but couldn't bring herself to look at him.

Marcus didn't answer; he seemed to be terribly interested in the stone floor. Her eyes narrowed; at any normal time she might have thought that maybe he just couldn't find the way to word whatever it was he wanted to say, but now, with him not acting himself _anyway_…?

"Marcus, _tell me what?_" Raven cried, taking the tall senator by the elbows and shaking him.

Marcus looked at her, his expression impossible to read.

"Seth has already seen him," he said quietly. "Seth was the one who tied him up down here; he says that the boy is dangerous. He says… I'm sorry, Raven, but Robin has lost the battle. He couldn't fight it off. As you can see, he's completely succumbed to the demon inside him…"

Raven stared at him.

"Robin… didn't beat it?" She asked faintly. "What… does that mean for him?…"

"Seth has been studying him all morning," Marcus explained dully. "He's never seen a case as bad as this… Raven…" Marcus sighed heavily and looked at the floor again. "Raven, I'm very sorry… there's nothing Seth can do. There's nothing _any_ of us can do…"

"_What?_"

Raven slid down her hood, staring at the senator.

"I do not wish to upset you, Raven," Marcus went on softly, again his voice free of any kind of sadness. "But Seth has taken control of the situation now. Robin is fully demonic; Seth cannot help him. Your friend is no longer your friend, Raven; he's a very dangerous monster. And Seth has decided… that he must be destroyed."

"No…" Raven backed away from Marcus. "No, you _can't_…"

"Raven-"

"_You're going to kill him!_" Raven shrieked.

"Raven, he is not your friend anymore. Your friend has been destroyed in the process of the demonic transformation," Marcus said coolly. His voice lacked the compassion that she had come to expect from him.

"I can't believe it," Raven said, her own voice shaking like a leaf. "I can't _believe_ it! You're an Azarathian senator, you _and_ Seth are! How can you even _think_ of killing…?"

"Raven, you know as well as I do that Seth would never order the death of a human or an Azarathian," Marcus said firmly.

"Robin _is_ human!" Raven snapped.

"Raven, that _thing_ tied up behind you is _not_ Robin anymore, and it is not _human_ anymore!"

"Don't talk about him like that!" Raven spat, backing away again towards the altar. "He's still my friend, no matter what he has become!"

"No, he _isn't_…" Something _else_ shone in the Vice-Head Senator's dark blue eyes now; something else she couldn't place. "Raven, you think I want this? You think _Seth_ wants this? You brought your friend here for help; do you think we want to end it by slaying him? Raven, I wish we could have saved him, but we couldn't. The demon was too strong for him and it took over him, destroying his soul and his mind in the process. There is _nothing_ of Robin left in him. If you were to awaken him, he would not recognise you; he would try to kill you. You have to understand that."

"But you're going to _kill_ him," Raven said, shaking her head in disbelief. "No, I won't _let_ you… What's _wrong_ with you? You _know_ killing is against Azar's way!"

"Raven… we cannot keep him alive. If we were to spare him, we would have to keep him locked up down here forever. We could not ever let him go, because he would kill people. If we were to keep him, what would we feed him on? These demons eat flesh, Raven, _Azarathian_ flesh; we would have to _slaughter_ people to feed to him. And that's just something we couldn't do. He's a lost cause, Raven, and he must be destroyed."

"_No!_" Tears started to run down Raven's face. "Please, Marcus… there must be a way! An exorcism spell, anything!" She looked at him despair, suddenly horrified by him. He was supposed to be _helping_ Robin…

"Raven, what do you think Seth has being _doing_ all morning?" Marcus asked quietly, the question rhetorical. "He's says he's tried everything he can think of, and nothing worked. He can't save him; no-one can."

"Then… there's no hope?"

Marcus shook his head sadly.

"Raven, I'm sorry. I wish there was another way. But Seth says there isn't; Robin must be slain."

"Will… Seth do it?" Raven asked shakily. Marcus nodded in confirmation.

"Yes. He'll do it himself, and he'll make it as quick and painless as possible."

"When?" Raven pressed.

"Tomorrow, at dawn."

"_How?_"

"Raven, I don't _know_. I do not _wish_ to know, either."

Raven looked up at him and burst into tears. Instead of comforting her – as he _should_ have, were he himself – Marcus grabbed her roughly by the shoulders and shook her.

"Raven, stop crying immediately!" He told her sharply. "Keep your emotions in check! You know how dangerous it is if you lose control!"

"I can't… help it…" Raven sobbed, shocked by his sudden rough treatment of her.

"Help it, and help it _now!_" Marcus snapped. "I don't know what's gotten into you; you seem to have lost all respect for the rules laid down by Azarath to protect yourself and others around you. I don't think you should go back to Earth."

"Stop it!" Raven cried, pulling herself from his grip. "You don't understand! You're going to kill my friend!"

She felt _rage_ flaring up inside her and whipped around, presenting her back to Marcus – if it truly _was_ Marcus – in time to hide her four crimson eyes. She fought it back down with effort and sank to her knees, burying her head in her arms as she sobbed on the altar. Near her Robin slept on, oblivious of the reason she was crying; _him_.

"Lady Raven, I am going to leave you alone for a few minutes," Marcus said coldly from behind her. "I'm going to call a senate meeting. Calm yourself down and be present in the council room in ten minutes."

He turned on his heel and swept towards the door.

"And Raven…" He turned back to her, but she did not look at him; she was too busy sobbing. "If, within those ten minutes, the demon boy mysteriously escapes his binds, you will be suitably punished, and the boy will die anyway."

He left, leaving the door ajar.

Still Raven sobbed. She couldn't stop; she felt so helpless. Marcus – one of the people she had always trusted – was acting strangely, agreeing with the death sentence. They were going to kill Robin and there was nothing she could do to stop them, nothing she could do to save him. He might have lost the battle to the demon, but to her at least, he was still Robin. She didn't want him to be hurt.

But if _Seth Elliott_ could not save him, then how could she even begin to think that _she_ could? Seth was magic; she was a telekinetic with a small knowledge of both white and black arts. She did not know even a _quarter_ of what Seth knew.

Gradually her tears stopped and she looked up at Robin; he was still curled up, sleeping like a baby.

But he was no baby.

She could sense the demon in him without even concentrating. To her, the evil and malice now laced within him was almost like a barrier. She knew within her heart that she could not even touch him, because if she did, it would cause pain to her sensitive mind.

Marcus was right. This wasn't Robin, not anymore. She knew that.

But she still could not bring herself to accept it, to accept the fact that at dawn tomorrow, even this new demonic-incarnation of the Boy Wonder would be destroyed.

_This_ Robin could not awake and smile and greet her, he could not promise that everything would be alright. He could not play silly hide-and-chase games in the dark with her, he could not kiss her, he could not make love to her; nor could he fight within the grip of fluid, deadly martial arts, he could not laugh or cry or get angry, he could not brood in his dark lonely room about Slade, he could not sulk when he didn't get his way…

_He could not live…_

Robin was dead. If she shook him awake, he would not recognise her. He would not recognise Starfire or Beast Boy or Cyborg, he would not recognise Slade, he would not even recognise _Batman_…

But even _that_ was not the worst of it. What upset her the most, what drove her into the depths of utter despair, was the thought that she was somehow responsible for this. The thought of last night's events haunted her; Robin's possession had been driving him - not his own teenage hormones – and she should have resisted him, for his own sake. But she hadn't; she had given in to him, given him his way, and he had not been able to see where to draw the line. He had _tried_, and so had she, but something had been driving them both, beyond the demonic possession, beyond the raging hormones, beyond even the realisation that she had never stopped loving him. Something stronger than them both had intoxicated them and let them do the rest. She not been able to see the insanity of it all, the danger to Robin and to herself… she hadn't just had sex with him - she had made it worse, she had touched him and sucked him off and given him just about every kind of sexual indulgence going. _That_ was why this had happened to him, because she had been too concerned with her own selfish pleasures to think about giving Robin a sharp slap across the face and telling him to snap out of it.

_Live for the moment…_

She started to cry again. She had never felt so desperate and helpless.

She thought about the meeting as she cried. Perhaps… they could be talked out of their decision. They would all be there; surely _some_ of them would side with her? Jonathon, Michael, James, Zachariah, Lawrence… none of them really got on with Seth Elliott. Maybe they would take her side just to be awkward; she knew for a fact that that was just the kind of thing Jonathon Vaughan in particular would do.

She rose, wiping her face. Hope glimmered somewhere in the distance, and it all rested on Jonathon Vaughan's obnoxiousness. She hoped he wasn't in a good mood…

"We're going to save you, Robin," she whispered, stepping back. "No matter what it takes…"

Robin, understandably, didn't respond.

Raven left the chamber and made her way to the council room, pulling up her hood to hide her red-rimmed eyes. She was not crying anymore; she was all-business, and she was not going to allow Seth and Marcus – however good their intentions – to have their way.

If they were going to kill Robin – even if he was not technically _Robin_ anymore – they would have to go through _her_, and the other Titans too, first.

She swung open the heavy door to the council room and strode in, her eyes narrowed within the shadow of her hood. She stopped in the middle of the room, before the semi-circle of chairs, and looked around at them defiantly.

Her defiance soon faded.

Two were missing; Arella, her own mother, and…

…_Jonathon…_

Even though she knew that the opinion of Jonathon alone would not have saved Robin, her heart sank. Where _was_ he? Maybe he was just late; he often was…

She looked around again and felt cold; they were all staring blankly at her, as Robin, Beast Boy and Cyborg had done during their possession by the Puppet King. Their faces registered no expression, not even Marcus'; he too was gazing at her, his head a little to one side as though he had never seen her before.

This was not even the same Marcus she had been with mere minutes ago.

Then she noticed that 13th chair, usually empty, was occupied by its rightful owner. Seth Elliott, Head of the Azarathian Senate, sat before her in his throne-like chair, smiling warmly at her.

"Hello, Raven," he greeted her, his voice soft.

Raven uttered a stifled squeak and immediately went to one knee, bowing her head.

"Raven, how many times have I told you not to do that?" Seth reprimanded her in amusement. He stood up and the others all rose too, as though he had them on strings. However, when he approached her, they all stayed put.

He took her shoulders and pulled her to her feet again, then took one of her hands and kissed it.

"I have missed you, Raven," he said, lifting his mouth from her hand. He reached out and pulled down her hood. "You are even more beautiful than I remember."

Raven blushed a little; even in the midst of her anger at him, she could not help but be charmed by him. He was so nice; he always _had_ been.

"But what's this?" Seth went on, frowning. His fingertips touched her pale cheek. "Your eyes are red. You have been crying."

"No I haven't."

Seth smiled in amusement.

"You never _were_ a very good liar, were you, Raven?" His smile faded. "I know why you are upset. It's about your friend Robin, isn't it?"

Raven hesitated, then nodded. Seth touched her face again.

"Raven, I am truly sorry," he said quietly. "There is nothing I can do. I have tried every kind of exorcism charm and spell I know, but the demon has become infused into his body. I cannot remove it. I tried and tried and tried, but now, even if I _were_ to somehow get it out of him, there would be nothing left but an empty shell. His soul has been destroyed – devoured, I fear – by the monster within him. He would not be alive; he would be inanimate. He would not respond to anything, he would not answer to his own name… tell me, Raven, what kind of existence is _that?_"

"There's _nothing_ you can do?" Raven asked, her voice quavering. Her violet eyes met Seth's large green ones.

"Raven, I'm sorry… I know why your beautiful eyes shed tears, and if I were not a man, I too would cry at the hopelessness and sadness of it all."

Raven looked at the floor, biting back tears.

"Please, Seth…" She looked back up at him, her eyes wet once again. "Maybe _I_ can-"

Seth put his finger to her lips.

"Raven, there is nothing you can do for him. I have already told you that the demon has become a part of him now. There is _nothing_ of your friend left in him."

"At least let me try!" Raven cried. "He's my friend!"

"I could not allow that, Raven. The evil which has overtaken him would overpower your fragile mind."

"You can't kill him, you can't… please, Seth, you _can't_…"

Seth removed his fingers from her cheek; he sighed heavily.

"Raven, how can I make you understand?" He asked her softly, not expecting an answer. "I'm sure Marcus has already explained why we cannot keep him alive. Raven, please, you _must_ understand… this is painful for _me_. You think I _want_ to kill him? But it must be done. It is kinder for him; I am sure the former Robin would not want to become a monster."

"Can't you wait just another day?" Raven begged. "_Please?_ Maybe I can look through some of my books, please, Seth; _just one more day_…"

"Raven, I'm sorry, but I have the matter of the missing Orb of Azarath to attend to as well," Seth said softly. He put his arms around her shoulders again as he saw her dissolving into tears.

"Please do not upset yourself, Raven," he whispered in her ear. "It must be done; Robin dies at dawn."

He allowed her to cry into his shoulder. She did so, and then looked up past him, still sobbing slightly. Her eyes met with Marcus', but he simply stared blankly at her, blinking slowly every so often. His gaze frightened her, and as she looked around she saw that they were all the same; Michael, Lawrence, Calica, Sarah, Emma, James, Catriona, Zachariah, Aurora… they were all just gazing at her lifelessly from where they stood in a perfect semi-circle, with only a few gaps marking the absences of Jonathon, Arella and Seth himself. She had never seen them this way; they didn't even appear to be breathing. They had not spoken at all, not even Marcus. It was as though they were all in some kind of… _trance_…

"Raven, I would not put this idea forward without the consent of a vote of the Senate," Seth said. "They all agree that it is for the best."

Over Seth's shoulder Raven saw them all nod in exact unison; she shivered. There was definitely something up with them…

And somehow she got the feeling that, despite their "agreement", they didn't have much of a choice.

"Seth, what's…?" She trailed off.

"What's _what?_" Seth inquired.

Raven shook her head.

"Nothing… it was nothing."

Seth held her away at arm's length, frowning.

"You sure?" He queried. "There's nothing you wanna ask me? Nothing at all?"

Raven shook her head and wiped her amethyst eyes.

"No, I'm fine…"

She offered him a weak smile. He smiled in return.

"Well, if you're sure…"

"Mmm…" Raven removed herself from his grasp. "I should go and see my friends," she told him. "You know, to…"

"Tell them the terrible news," Seth finished quietly. "Very well. I'll check up on you later."

Raven nodded and pulled up her hood. With one final look at the senators, and then at Seth himself, she turned on her heel and swept from the room.

Even as she did so, she got the feeling that their lifeless eyes were all fixed upon her, not to mention a glittering green pair that were all too alive…

She had come to a decision.

The Teen Titans were leaving Azarath tonight.

All five of them.

* * *

Ooh… tension…

Soooo… Robin might not be the _only_ one possessed… and speaking of… what will become of him now? Yes, really and truly, no bluffs; he has been taken over. Hope y'all liked the description of him; he's a pretty lil' demon…

…or not. :P

Next up: The Teen Titans (except their leader, obviously) take matters into their own hands. Including Jonathon Vaughan once again proving he's the only senator with any sense at all, a book of spells and Robin and Starfire suddenly finding they have a lot more common now that _he_ isn't human either… Yes, _all_ of the Titans suddenly have a _huge_ part!

Review and you'll get it faster (if the site lets me…)!

And once again… there's an AMV. By Coolteenzz. Check it out or face my wrath. I will set my sock-puppet minions on you…

- RobinRocks xXx


	27. Jonathon's Remedy

Well, this is gonna be another huge AN…

First of all, you must know that this is a special update especially for Independence Day (even though I myself am a Brit – don't worry, I'm not gonna pull a Mad Mod on you and try to convince you that the Declaration of Independence was a hoax, nor will I superimpose our Union Jack flag over your skyline…). I therefore wish all American readers (and I think that is _most_ of you) a very happy 4th July, and can only congratulate you on throwing us out of your country; you did a damn good job of it, I have to say… :)

Secondly… _THANKYOU_ everyone who reviewed the last update! You know how many reviews I got altogether for those two lil' chapters? I'll tell ya'll, 'cause I'm just so… _squee_… **39**, people! _39 reviews_! That is the absolute _most_ I have _ever_ had in one go for any update, be it one-shot or chapters or whatever… _Soooo_… I don't of course expect that to be matched this time around, but I just have to thank you all because that is a _lot_ of reviews… Part of this is owed to a new reviewer called **Rork**, who reviewed fifteen chapters in one go. I suppose that does account for quite a bit of it, but even so… There were a lot of other new reviewers too (including **Angelus Abyssi**, **Xrockinrobin**, **Xiaolin Monkey** and someone who bizarrely calls themselves **Dummy**) , whom I hope to hear from again, because all of your reviews were most insightful indeed!

And so, I thank most profusely; **Daybreak25 **(is Robin's predicament down to Seth pulling his soul out? Uh, _yeah_… so yeah, you just throw insults and profanities in his direction… Don't worry, Raven and the Titans (and Jonathon) to the rescue in this chapter! Oh, and I hope you had a happy birthday and that your driving test went okay:P); **Quinn and His Quill **(yes, our Seths are really nothing alike… which is a good thing, because you would probably sue… As for a showdown between Jonathon and Seth… I'm not promising anything, but you never know… Oh, and about the sacrificial chambers; in the 80s _Teen Titans_ comic book series, Azarath was explained to have been a dimension where people from Earth went to have their evil purged and destroyed, thus founding the place. In the crude early days, they apparently performed sacrifices, but then their pacifist natures took over and they became disused…); **Rocky-White Wolf of Curses **(yes, Seth ain't all the good guy he pretends to be, and as for things beginning to go very wrong… you have _no_ idea… Great speculations about whose side he is on, though!);** Xrockinrobin **(wow, thanks for the compliment… I don't think this would sell as many copies as _Harry Potter_, though… :) I am so very glad that you like it, though! I am sorry that you are wasting all your ink; but what are you doing? Printing it out? Ouch, that's gonna cost ya ink-wise… Oh, and you aren't the only one who wants to bitch-slap Seth…); **Angelus Abyssi** (good grief, reading all of _Asylum_ and then all 26 previous chapters of _Black Magic_ all in one go _cannot_ be good for your eyes… I am _so_ happy that you like it that much, though! As for your speculation about Robin and Raven's desperation to "get it on"… I am not saying anything right now, but I have to say I am _thoroughly_ impressed by your speculation… you might just be right… And you are another Jonathon fan? Wow, he's popular for an OC… Oh, and cool pen-name. _Buffy_-inspired or not? Doesn't matter either way, but I love Angel…); **Thrillzone **(you seem to pick up on all of the references I throw in, don't you? First the demon-comic-version of Robin, then the other _Constantine_ reference. Admittedly, Seth _is_ modelled a little after John Constantine. I saw the movie around the time I was gearing up to introduce Seth's character when I was writing the fic last year, hence… Anyway, Constantine is actually a DC character in the first place, so that makes it even better… Taking note of your perceptiveness, look out for the few little _Star Wars_ references coming up soon. _Revenge of the Sith_ was in cinemas last year when I was writing the latter half of this fic… Thankyou also for the review on _The White King_; as I predicted, it hasn't been very popular…); **Narroch06 **(ah, Narroch, Narroch, Narroch… I admit to enjoying preaching to you about _Teen Titans_, heh-heh-heh… You're another extremely perceptive one, maybe because you know my writing style so well (_Small Print_ takes the blame for this), and so… you often floor me with your reviews. If I was to answer all of your questions and speculations I would probably end up revealing all the twists to you… Robin's soul, however, isn't dead. It's just not in his body. Think of _Switched_, when Robin, Cyborg and BB's souls are trapped in the puppet versions of themselves. It's kinda like that, only Robin's true body has something else inhabiting it, whereas in _Switched_ it was empty, which is why he just kind of slouched around drooling and trying to kill Star and Raven… Oh, and your speculations about Seth's motives make me extremely curious… I wonder if you will be right?); **Rork** (good grief, thankyou for all the reviews! You really helped clock my numbers up! I am glad you liked what you have read so far and hope to hear from you again!); **Ravenrogue19 **(hmm, some more extremely interesting speculations… you guys are all regular Sherlock Holmes'… or maybe my fic is just too obvious. Either way, nice work. Where did Seth put Robin's soul? You may find out, and you may not… Rest assured that it is perfectly safe… for now… And yeah, he did take it out so that the demon would take over Robin… heh-heh, yeah, and you do sound kinda like Uncle from _Jackie Chan Adventures_… I used to love that show… And you are calling me JK too, huh? I am flattered…); **Me** (sorry to hear about your mum not letting you use the computer, but at least you got to read these… I hope your exam went good – my Psychology one was _horrible_…); **Yami Tai **(I thought you might like that MarcusxJonathon bit, being the Original Jonathon Fan… :) Jonathon is back in this chapter (hence the title) and Marcus will be sane again soon enough… But for now, we (and the Titans) have more important matters to contend with…); **Xiaolin Monkey** (glad you like Demonic Robin! It would be interesting to see him like that on the show… And please, no! Not the kittens! Don't flip off those poor kittens! I'm updating, _I'm updating!_); **Seductive Angel** (gosh, your reviews are _insane_, you know that? A _Teen Titans/Black Magic_ version of The _Jerry Springer Show_? Could be _very_ interesting… As for Robin's demonic description… ah, I see you weren't as impressed as Xiaolin Monkey. Don't worry, as above to Daybreak25 – Raven to the rescue! And uh, _yes_; Raven sucking Robin off was a _very_ bad thing! _Very bad indeed!_ Oh, and to all who doesn't know what a monkey nut is… it's a peanut still in its shell, like the _Nutter Butters_ logo. I think "monkey nut" is the British name, sorry about that…); **Dummy** (if that _is_ your real pen-name… You reviewed, therefore I don't dislike you. I never ignore reviewers unless they say something _really_ stupid… No, Robin is not… _lost_, as such… You'll just have to wait and find out. And no_, no, **NO**_! _Asylum/Black Magic_ are _not_ slash! Unlike at least half of my fics… Seriously, it's not slash. Slade raped Robin in _Asylum_ because he _had_ to, not because he just wanted him, like in _Small Print…_ The rape has serious implications in the storyline, and as for the kissing that preceded it, it has both an explanation and a purpose… But it's not slash. This storyline is strictly heterosexual…); **Kougraness **(Raven's reactions will be exactly that; of the "Try and stop me" variety. Glad you are liking the fic, and as for Robin… just read on and you'll see what is to become of the Boy Demon…); **Coolteenzz **(talented creator of the one and only _Black Magic_ music video, put to the _Ghost Love Score_ by Nightwish! More about that below… Glad you are enjoying it, my friend, and that's okay about not leaving a massive long review, you know. You don't have to write a whole essay… Oh, and Robin isn't dead, so don't worry…); **Unbelievable Sorrow** (glad to hear you're enjoying it too! I am so happy that so many people like my fic. It's maybe the closest to a_ magnum opus _(or is it _opus magnum_?) that I will ever get… which is a shame, because I can't make any money off it…); **AzarathGirl **(yep, possession ain't the nicest affliction in the world… Glad that you're back and enjoying it as much as ever!) and last but not least, to all who avidly and dedicatedly read every chapter but never have anything to say. I love you all too and hope that you are enjoying it as much as the reviewers are!

Whew… I apologise… Lastly, did anyone see the _Black Magic_ AMV by **Coolteenzz**? It's stunning… If anyone saw it, please let me know what you thought! Oh, and also, I hope everyone enjoyed the MarcusxJonathon moment! It seemed to go down pretty well…

Okay, okay, chapter time…

Jonathon's Remedy 

Raven let her black bird-shaped aura fade from her form as she touched down in the hallway of the left wing. She touched her hood, which was up, as though for security, as she looked up and down the dark hallway.

It was midnight. Six hours until dawn.

_Far_ more time than they needed.

She was back in her purple cloak and black leotard. It made her feel better about what she was doing. It made her feel like a Teen Titan – someone with a _purpose_ – instead of just Trigon's daughter, the unstable empath, the social outcast in Azarath.

Seth would go nuts; so would Marcus. They all would. And she was not trying to justify what she was doing; she knew it was wrong, and that it was dangerous.

She knew _Robin_ was dangerous.

But she was not going to allow Seth to kill him.

She had told the others about what had happened to Robin; Starfire had, predictably, cried, Beast Boy and Cyborg had been horrified. And all three of them were as determined as she was that Robin would not die at dawn.

Cyborg had said that Robin had been sentenced to death before, countless times (which was true) and he had lived.

Cyborg was right.

Raven herself had taken control of the situation – instead of Cyborg in his temporary position as leader following Robin's temper-tantrum – and had told them to get anything they wanted together and meet her in the lounge room at midnight. None of them had protested when she had informed them that they were leaving. They were going to take Robin home. After that…

She didn't know what they were going to do with him. At the back of her mind she knew they were going to have to sedate him or lock him up until they could do something with him, but right now, all that mattered was getting him out of Azarath.

She levitated from the floor and started to quickly and silently glide in the direction of the central wing where the lounge room was located. She reached it quickly and landed a few feet short of the door. She hoped the other Titans were already there; the less time they wasted, the better…

"Raven."

Her stomach lurched unpleasantly and the feeling of nausea which had been corrupting her system all day returned with a jolt.

She froze, her mind ticking. She would use force if she had to, she would knock out whoever it was if they tried to stop her.

She turned slowly, her eyes narrowed and glowing.

"Whoa, lay off, Raven," Jonathon Vaughan whispered wildly, his hands – which were glowing with white light – raised in surrender.

The glow faded from Raven's eyes but her fists remained clenched. Despite his obnoxious attitude towards Seth, Jonathon was still a senator; she hoped he was not going to make this difficult…

"Jonathon," she acknowledged coolly. Unusually, he did not smile.

"I know what you're doing, Raven," he said softly.

Her heart sank. He was going to try to stop her.

"Saving the demon boy from his sealed fate," Jonathon went on. He lowered his hands, the light having the effect of a torch in each of his hands.

"Jonathon, you can't stop me," Raven told him icily. "Please, I don't want to hurt you…"

"You don't have to. I'm glad you're doing this, Raven. If you hadn't come up with the idea on your own, I would have _suggested_ it to you."

Raven blinked and stared at him as though he had suddenly started speaking French.

"What?"

Still Jonathon's face remained impassive.

"I'm not fooling around with you, Raven. You have to take him away from here before Seth murders him."

Raven shook her head a little, still staring at the senator.

"_Murders?…_" She repeated weakly.

Jonathon nodded.

"I've been watching him ever since he got back this morning," the auburn-haired senator explained. "I've never trusted him, and now I'm on to him. I was with Marcus… this morning…"

She noticed him give a sudden nervous little tug to his collar, although his serious expression did not flicker.

"Well, we were in his study, and Seth… walked in on us…"

He _didn't_, of course, go into the details.

"He wanted Marcus to go down to the dungeons with him, but Marcus was taking his time about it… guess that was kinda my fault, we were arguing about Seth again, and about Robin. So Seth came down to the study and told Marcus to hurry it up, and then he… put him in some kind of trance. Maybe you noticed he wasn't really… himself…"

Raven nodded carefully.

"And when Seth left… his eyes met with mine and he just… smirked at me, you know? Like he was taunting me or something… And he said that it wasn't the first time he had ever done it…"

She nodded again, hanging onto his every whispered word.

"So of course I got real suspicious after that, and although Marcus started acting "normally" again… he was still under some kind of spell, I could just tell he was. When he was speaking to you down in the "dungeon" about Robin… he was still under whatever influence Seth had cast over him. Raven, you have to understand… Marcus would've have been fighting tooth and nail for there to be a better solution concerning Robin's demonicy. But you'll remember how… final he was about it, how cold and almost emotionless. It was all an act; Marcus wasn't even thinking."

"How do you know all this?" Raven asked suspiciously; Jonathon had not been present down in the dungeons. Or _had_ he…?

Jonathon grinned for the first time.

"I have my little ways…"

Raven sighed.

"Great, another Beast Boy… he takes the term "fly-on-the-wall" literally…"

"Uh-huh." Jonathon's grin faded. "After that "Marcus" called a meeting, but I had got wise to Seth and I didn't go. I didn't have time to warn any of the others, but I caught your mother, Raven, and she didn't turn up either."

"That's why you weren't there," Raven remembered.

Jonathon nodded.

"I was counting on you to argue with Seth on Robin's behalf," Raven informed him.

"Raven, if I had been there… I would not have been any help to you. I would just have been another of his puppets."

Raven blinked.

"You know about that too?"

"Arella and I went to the scrying room and used one of the crystal balls to check in on the meeting. From there we could clearly

see what Seth had done to them all… Well, you _saw_ them, Raven; they couldn't speak, they couldn't think. They could only do what he _made_ them do. You probably noticed that when he stood, they all stood up too?"

Raven nodded, shivering slightly at the memory of the way they had all been staring at her, like vampires, like victims of Haiti voodoo rituals… She was glad her mother had not been among them, and glad that at least one person could see sense…

"They are still succumbed to his will, Raven," Jonathon went on. "I don't know what he's planning but he obviously wants as little interference as possible."

Raven nodded.

Jonathon smiled again.

"I do, however, have the answer to your problems," he said brightly. His glowing hands danced gracefully as he moved them, whispering an Azarathian mantra. A blue glow formed between his fingers, took on a rectangular shape and became a heavy-bound leather book with silver gothic clasps.

He grinned as he handed it to her.

"Jonathon, what?..." She didn't finish as she saw the red marking ribbon poking out of it. She unclasped the black leather cover and it fell open to a yellowed page with title _EXORCISM _across the top in thick, elaborate gothic script.

Raven looked up at him, speechless. Jonathon's grin widened, showing off his set of perfect white teeth.

"That'll get the bugger out of him," he said happily.

"But Seth… he's already tried everything, Jonathon… he…"

Her weak protestation ran dry as Jonathon's grin became a scowl; his hazel eyes glittered with real malice.

"Raven, excuse my language," he said darkly, "but that bastard didn't try any exorcism spells on Robin."

"How do you-"

"Take my word for it, kid." Jonathon ran a hand through his silky auburn hair and he sighed.

"It's pretty simple," he said, pointing at the book. "But you need five people for it to work."

"No problem, there's five of… oh, no…" She trailed off; there were five of them _including_ Robin. Without him there were only four.

"Raven, I'm useful for more than sitting in that council room annoying Seth and Marcus at meetings," Jonathon said matter-of-factly. "I'm person number five if you need me."

"We do."

Jonathon beamed.

"Thought so." He suddenly snapped his fingers. "Hang on. You and your other friends go down to the chamber where Robin is; I already took care of the guards at the door. I'll meet you down there in five minutes. There's just something I want to check out…"

Raven nodded, clutching the book tightly to her chest.

"Ok…"

Jonathon nodded and turned on his heel, his green silk cloak flying behind him as he walked off quickly down the corridor.

"Jonathon?" Raven called after him as loudly as she dared.

He turned back, his expression quizzical.

"Yes?"

Raven smiled.

"Thankyou."

Jonathon offered her his trademark grin, nodded pertly and took off again.

Still clutching the book protectively, Raven turned and sank through the oak doors to the lounge room. It was lit up with a dull green glow from Starfire's hands as the alien girl stood in the middle of the room, her eyes watching Beast Boy as he paced up and down with his hands clasped behind his back like Sherlock Holmes. Cyborg was sitting on one of the couches, twisting his metal hands in suspense.

"Ready to go?" Raven asked them quietly as she entered the room, making them all look up sharply.

"You're late, Ray," Cyborg acknowledged, getting to his feet. "Didn't have any problems, did you?"

Raven shook her head, smiling slightly.

"No, I got a solution."

She held up the book. When they all looked blankly at her, she sighed and lowered it again.

"It's an exorcism spell," she explained. "We're going to save him."

Starfire clapped her hands together and let out a shriek of happiness, which was quickly stifled by Beast Boy as he morphed into an octopus and slapped a tentacle over Starfire's mouth.

"Star, keep it down," Cyborg hissed. "We're on a top-secret, life-or-death rescue mission."

Still gagged, Starfire merely nodded.

Raven sighed and rolled her eyes as she made her way over to them.

"Come on, let's go." She looked at each of them in turn; both Beast Boy and Starfire were back in their usual clothes, Starfire's red hair free once again down her back. "We're going to get him back to normal, and then we're all going home."

They all nodded.

"Sounds like a plan, Ray," Cyborg confirmed. "There'd be no need for us to stay after Robbie's sorted."

Raven nodded in reply and her eyes glowed white. A huge bird-shaped figment of dark light appeared around her and continued to spread, closing around the four of them.

Starfire huddled to Cyborg, her hands clasped together and her green eyes wide as all went black.

"What is this?" She cried in anguish.

"I dunno, Star," Cyborg replied quietly, sounding equally unnerved.

"Raven, whatever you're doing, _quit it!_" Beast Boy protested loudly from the midst of the darkness. The only things visible were Raven's white eyes and Cyborg's red mechanical one.

"Raven, I am scared," Starfire said timidly.

Raven did not answer, but seconds later the darkness relinquished and drew back, fading into nothing.

Cyborg, Beast Boy and Starfire drew away from each other, gazing around; they were speechless.

They were no longer in the lounge room; instead they now stood in the centre of a stone dungeon-like chamber. Orange light flickered eerily across the walls and floor, casting long, unstill shadows.

"Where are we?" Beast Boy queried, looking up at the ceiling.

"Yo, Ray, I didn't know you could do that," Cyborg exclaimed, staring at her. "You teleported _all_ of us!"

Raven smiled faintly.

"I have my secrets, Cyborg…"

"I'll say," was all the half-robot could utter in reply.

Beast Boy's long pointed ears twitched.

"_So_," he said slowly, "where's-"

"_Robin!_" Starfire cried, interrupting him but finishing his question. Beast Boy was about to protest but Starfire ran past him towards the altar.

Alarmed, Raven grabbed hold of her arm, jerking her to a halt.

"Raven, let me go!" Starfire said shrilly, trying to tug her arm free from her empathic friend's grip.

"Starfire, don't go near him," Raven told her firmly. "He's dangerous."

"What the hell _happened_ to him?" Cyborg whispered as he and Beast Boy joined the girls in front of the altar.

"I _told_ you," Raven answered.

"Yeah, but…" Cyborg shook his head. "I didn't expect him to look like _this_."

It was worse for them, Raven realised; Robin was not asleep anymore. He was very much awake, and he had been attempting to bite through his leather wrist-restraints when they had entered; now he had retreated as far as he could across the altar, curled up and hissing at them like a savage cat. His tail lashed angrily like a cat's too, and from watching Beast Boy's animal behaviour, they all knew that it was a sign not to approach him.

They all knew that there was absolutely no human left in him; no _Robin_ left in him.

Beside her, Raven heard Starfire start to cry quietly. She put her hand on the alien girl's shoulder.

"It'll be ok, Starfire," she promised. "We're going to get it out of him."

Of course, she realised, Seth had said that even if the demon was torn from him, there would be nothing left at all. But after what Jonathon had told her, she wasn't so sure she trusted Seth anymore.

She bit her lip. She had been hoping he would still be asleep; she had scanned down the spell and it required him to be touched.

She knew for a fact he would ravage anyone who went near him. His wrists might have been tied, but when they had entered she had seen him trying to bite the leather cord tying his hands together, and his teeth were sharp, primal, near-vampiric. Plus he had that wretched tail now, he could hit with his wings and if remembered how to kick, his toenails – now like claws – would draw blood.

"So how're we gonna do this thing, Ray?" Cyborg inquired, looking sideways at her.

Raven shook her head.

"I don't know…"

Her violet eyes fell on the small pile of magical objects gathered at the foot of the stone altar; looking at the spell she saw that they were all the requirements needed.

She smiled; Jonathon acted dumb, but he certainly wasn't. He had practically done everything for them… She hoped he would join them soon; as a powerful bearer of magic, he would know some kind of spell to knock the newly-aggressive Boy Wonder out.

"Jonathon is going to help us," Raven said softly.

They all looked at her.

"Who the heck is "Jonathon"?" Beast Boy demanded. "It's not that dark-haired guy you went off with earlier, is it?"

Raven shook her head.

"No, that's Marcus. Jonathon is another senator, and the only one who can see any sense at times like these…" She looked at Robin, who was glaring at them all through narrowed masked eyes. "He's a bit like Robin, really… always thinks there's some kind of conspiracy going on, always reading into things…"

"So would that be paranoid or just plain nosy?" Beast Boy joked.

"Both, I suppose…"

Raven sighed. Where was Jonathon? He was _always_ late whenever it counted. She hoped Seth or Marcus hadn't caught him; they'd _all_ be in trouble then…

"Should we not at least _try_ to approach him?" Starfire persisted, looking at them all with wide green eyes.

Raven shook her head.

"I would not recommend it, Starfire," she advised. "He doesn't recognise any of us. He would probably hurt you."

Starfire tossed her head defiantly.

"Robin would _never_ hurt his friends deliberately," she said coolly.

Beast Boy coughed something that sounded remarkably like "apprentice" and both Cyborg and Raven glowered at him. Starfire did not pay attention as she had walked past them all towards the altar.

"Star, I wouldn't!" Cyborg called after her frantically.

"Starfire, come back!" Raven snapped.

Starfire ignored them. She sat on the very edge of the stone altar and spoke to Robin in a language that none of the others could understand; Tamaranean. She only said one or two words, so they guessed she was merely saying "Hello".

Beast Boy grimaced; he and the others expected Robin to jump at her –

Nothing happened.

On the contrary, Robin's tail had stopped swaying to and fro; his head was cocked a little to one side as he looked at Starfire.

His human face was blank and impassive, like an animal's, his masked eyes wide and curious as though he had never seen anything like Starfire before.

She extended her hand towards him ever so slowly and he recoiled a little. Starfire didn't take it away again, just left it extended, her fingers spread, waiting for him. It took him a while, but finally he established that she was not a threat to him and he moved towards her again. Her fingers touched his silky hair and she stroked it lightly, enticing him closer again. Soon he had decided that he liked her and was nestled against her side, curled up and letting her stroke his hair absently. His masked eyes were closed and he was making a little sound that could probably have passed as purring.

"Whoa, Star…" Beast Boy was, for once, speechless. "Ever think of becoming a lion tamer?"

Starfire smiled prettily and looked down at the soothed demon boy on the altar beside her. His tail was flicking slightly in contentment.

"Jeez, he's like a _kitten_ with you, Star," Cyborg said weakly.

"I told you that he would not hurt his friends," Starfire reminded them, her tone surprisingly smug.

"Well, this makes it easier," Raven said with a nod. She, Beast Boy and Cyborg moved towards the altar too.

Robin's eyes snapped open and he backed away again, hissing and his wings rustling threateningly. Starfire gasped and grabbed hold of him, speaking to him in quick, fluent Tamaranean. There was no way he would understand it, of course, but just the sound of the language seemed to calm him.

"Stay back," Starfire warned the others, who had all stepped backwards anyway. She spoke to Robin again, touching his hair gently. He calmed down but continued to glare past Starfire at those whom he didn't like.

"Jeez, man, what's _up_ with him?" Cyborg asked, annoyed. "We weren't gonna hurt him."

Raven was the most irritated by the fact that Robin accepted Starfire, even snuggling up against her like a contented cat, when he would not let _her_ – the _other_ female Titan whom he had had his way with the night before – anywhere near him. But she knew there had to be more to it that that. He liked the sound of Tamaranean, and…

She understood. Whatever had taken him over, it caused him to feel threatened by humans, for some reason, possibly Azarathians, and most certainly other demonic presences. Beast Boy was human, Cyborg was human, and she, Raven, was half-human, half-demon and born in Azarath. And _as for_ the demon side of her… the demon in _him_ didn't seem nearly so keen to embrace it now…

Starfire, of course, was none of these things; she was an alien from the planet Tamaran. Her native language calmed him purely because it was not English – American or otherwise. She was not from Earth or Azarath, so therefore he did not feel threatened by her; she was no more human than _he_ was. A common ally, or so it appeared to him.

She quickly explained her theory to the others; Beast Boy snorted but nodded, and Cyborg agreed too.

"So _we_ can't get near him," the half-robot acknowledged with a sigh.

"It would appear that way," Raven responded stiffly. "But at least _one_ of us can."

They all looked at Starfire again and Raven felt a stabbing pang of jealously as she saw that Robin was curled up comfortably again, this time with his head on the alien girl's lap. One of his wings was draped over him, but beneath it she could see that the red sash that covered him was starting to slip. Robin didn't understand modesty now, being a demon incapable of intelligent thought past "Kill them all". Still, she hoped it didn't fall off, for _his_ sake more than anyone else's; Beast Boy and Cyborg would _never_ let him live it down.

"Oh, he is wearing a necklace!" Starfire suddenly said.

The others all looked up at her as though she was mad and saw that in her hand was a glittering red jewel on a silver chain, which in turn was hanging around Robin's neck. He didn't appear very interested but Starfire was examining the blood-red jewel in wonder and delight.

"Oh, it is beautiful," she breathed. She looked up. "Where do you think he got it from?"

"Dunno," Beast Boy said offhandedly. "Maybe he stole it from somewhere."

"What kinda superhero _steals_ stuff?" Cyborg asked witheringly.

Beast Boy shrugged.

"He stole my hair gel," he said.

"It was _his_ hair gel in the first place," Cyborg pointed out. "_You_ stole it off _him_ to begin with."

"He still snitched it…"

Raven sighed and looked back at the door. She was starting to worry now; they were wasting precious time. The spell might not work first time round, maybe they would have to do it twice, three times… _Where was Jonathon? _

"Raven, we doing this spell or not?" Cyborg asked as if on cue.

"When Jonathon turns up," Raven said irritably.

"Don't look like he's comin'," Cyborg acknowledged.

_No, it doesn't,_ Raven thought desperately.

She looked at the objects at the foot of the altar, then at the book clutched in her hands. Couldn't hurt to get started.

"Azarath. Metrion. _Zinthos_…"

She summoned the objects to her, knowing she couldn't go near the altar. They landed softly at her feet and she crouched down to examine them, consulting the book.

She nodded. It was, as Jonathon had said, simple enough. It was also kind of cliché, and… well, _lame_, really…

First you had to draw a pentagram; so far, so Satanist ritual. Each person involved in the spell sat at each of the points, joining hands, but before you did that you had to draw blood from each person, mix it together in a sacred urn and anoint the "Possessed One" with the liquid. When that was done you had to acquire a possession of the "Possessed One" and smear the rest of the blood on it. This was then laid in the middle of the pentagram and _then_ you could join hands. One person, "The Summoner", spoke the incantation, and the demonic being would be torn from the "Possessed One" and instead be forced into the anointed materialistic possession. This was then destroyed to annihilate the demon forever.

Raven read it a few times to familiarise herself with it and pulled a face. It was pathetic, really, but if it worked, then she was not about to argue with it.

She looked down at the objects again. Everything was there, apart from the blood, of course. Jonathon had supplied the little urn though – who knew where he had stolen it from – the knife with which to draw the blood, the chalk with which to draw the pentagram, and a birdarang which doubtlessly he had taken from Robin's utility belt; it had been confiscated along with the rest of his uniform by the Senate.

She looked at Cyborg; he wouldn't admit it, but he was pretty good at drawing, particularly designs for things.

"Cyborg, can you draw a pentagram?" She asked him, picking up the chalk.

Cyborg blinked.

"Pentagram? As in… those weird star-things?"

Raven nodded, offering him the chalk. Cyborg took it, still confused.

"Oh… _kay_… where do you want it? An' how big?"

Raven gestured at the floor.

"On the floor. Quite big; we need to sit at each of the points."

Still bemused, Cyborg went to work. Beast Boy and Starfire exchanged bewildered looks; Robin watched the half-robot with a malicious interest.

"All done," Cyborg said brightly, straightening up and tossing the chalk back to Raven. On the floor sprawled a perfect five-pointed star and Raven nodded in approval.

"Perfect, Cyborg." She sighed again. That was all they could do until Jonathon turned up. She wondered what it was that he had wanted to check out, and why it was taking him so long.

The three of them looked up as they heard Starfire squealing with laughter. Raven boiled again; Robin was licking Starfire's long slender fingers.

"Why's he eating you, Star?" Beast Boy inquired drolly.

Starfire shrugged, still giggling.

"I do not know… it tickles!"

Raven glared at her, but neither alien girl nor demon boy noticed. He was licking the back of her hand now.

"Oh!" Starfire said suddenly. "I think he is… cleaning me. Sometimes on Tamaran we practice such a ritual."

"Do us a favour, Star," Cyborg said wearily. "Don't lick him back. It's something I could do without seeing."

Beast Boy opened his mouth and Cyborg hit him over the head.

"Don't wanna hear _one word_ 'bout sucking off, you hear me, you little grass stain?" He growled threateningly.

Beast Boy grinned sheepishly, massaging the rising bump on his green skull. He turned instead to Starfire, delving into one of his pockets. He produced a slightly squashed white chocolate – with a fresh cream centre – he had swiped from the bowl in the lounge room.

"Here, Star; feed him this," he said brightly. He threw it to Starfire, who caught it.

"What'd you do to it, B; poison it?" Cyborg queried skeptically. Beast Boy looked offended.

Raven turned away in disgust – and jealousy – as she watched Starfire feeding Robin the chocolate. She teased him a little with it until he made a little whining noise and she gave it to him in a flow of affection. He licked her fingers clean and started that purring noise again… it was sickening.

The worst of it was that Starfire was thoroughly enjoying it. It appeared to Raven that, if anything, Starfire preferred Robin this way. He was utterly brainless and deeply affectionate, at least to _her_ – his behaviour towards the rest of them was a completely different story – and he favoured the alien girl, giving her his undying attention, which was what Starfire craved for from the real, intelligent, fully-clothed version. He was like a little pet to her now, and she didn't have to come up with an excuse to justify stroking his hair.

Raven looked hopefully at the door again.

_Where **are** you, Jonathon?… _

But time was ticking on, and there was no sign of the senator. She calculated it to be at least fifteen minutes since he had left her, and he too was capable of teleportation. _Why_ was he taking so long?

She closed her eyes, uttered her mantra in a low voice, and focused her mind. In her head she could see fleeting images of the Senate House as her detached spectral-self searched for Jonathon's life-force.

"What's she doing?" She heard Beast Boy's voice ask, sounding far off.

She squeezed her eyes tighter as she exerted more concentration. She couldn't find him. Nothing…

It became too much for her mind and she broke it off with a gasp. She opened her eyes and put a hand to her forehead. She couldn't sense Jonathon. It implied one thing; he was no longer in the building. He had left the Senate House grounds, damn him. He had probably forgotten he was supposed to come down here, the idiot…

She was angry, but also worried. She was capable of performing the spell herself, but they needed a fifth person…

"That's it," she said snippily, looking up from her hands.

"_What's_ it, Ray?" Cyborg asked nervously, looking sideways at Beast Boy.

"That moron Jonathon's done a bunk," Raven snapped. She whipped around to face them. "We need another person."

"But _who_, Raven?" Starfire inquired, pushing Robin off as he tried to clamber into her lap. He made another high-pitched whining noise in protest, to which Beast Boy promptly replied; "Dude, shut _up!_" while putting his hands over his sensitive ears.

"The lady's right," Cyborg acknowledged. "Who're we gonna get? You've already said the whole of this nuthouse are all for Robin's impending death sentence."

Raven nodded.

"I know. I'm going to open another portal."

"Yeah, but who are you gonna _get?_" Cyborg pressed.

Raven snorted as though it was obvious.

"Batman, of course. I'll open it to Gotham, outside Wayne Manor…"

She trailed off as she saw Cyborg's expression.

"Raven, I hate to disappoint you, but…" Cyborg sighed and shook his head. "Batman's not in Gotham. Me an' Robin heard it on the radio news. Nobody knows where Bruce Wayne has gone."

Raven groaned in frustration as Cyborg finished speaking.

"_Great_."

She looked at them all in despair.

"So what are we going to do _now?_…"

* * *

Just to leave ya on a patented RobinRocks _Black Magic_ cliff-hanger… 

Hope you liked! In Cyborg's words, things from here on in are "about to get heavy!" (that would be Cyborg to Dr. Light in _Nevermore_ – which was, ironically, the first episode of _Teen Titans_ that I ever saw, and the one that got me therefore hooked…).

What's gonna happen? Who will they get to help them now? Any speculations? Where is Jonathon? Is Seth gonna burst in on them? Will Robin _ever_ be normal again? Will BB ever get over himself (we all love him really…)? So many _questions_…

Note to all; don't take me up on Cyborg's surprise at Raven's teleporting all four of them. The first time she is seen to teleport more than just herself is in _Deception_, the first episode of Season Three. You will of course note that this is set in Season _Two_. Now, before you all leap down my throat… I also know that actually she teleports all of them in _Go!_, which is of course set before _all_ of the episodes, but then it gets confusing just switching between seasons, and when I originally wrote this I had only seen Seasons One, Two and Three, and also they would have made that up for Season Five, which was written _after_ Season Three (obviously) and it all just gets too messy when you try and adjust it, so… they didn't know she could do it, okay? End of story.

Okay, well, I neither expect 38 reviews for this update, nor do I actually expect reviews straight away – I know you guys will all be busy shooting off big-ass fireworks and doing whatever other cool things you do on 4th July… You guys get all the cool stuff, you know that? We don't have a holiday like 4th July in Britain… _Anyway_, hope everyone has a whole lot of fun! Happy Independence Day, everyone!

Oh, and check out the _Black Magic_ music video if you haven't already! Here's the link to Coolteenzz's YouTube account again – just copy and paste it into your browser and then locate _Black Magic/Ghost Love Score_ on there to see it: **www . youtube . com / user / coolteenzz **

And once more… happy 4th July!

- RobinRocks xXx


	28. The Last Resort

Wow, another _awesome_ response! 20 reviews for one chapter! Yay! I love you all so much for your kind, kind words/weird-but-amusing-and-often-pretty-accurate speculations… This is gonna be _massive_ again, I'm afraid…

Also, hope you all had a great 4th July. Today's update (14th July) is in occasion of two things – One: The UK release of _Superman Returns_! Yay! I am wearing a Superman shirt just to prove my point! Yes, yes… I know you guys got it like a month ago, but hey… Two: _Remember the Titans_, the third part of this massive storyline, is exactly a year old today! I started it on 14th July 2005, and have been slacking off ever since. I am deeply ashamed, I have done the other four fics before it (_Lost in Ecstasy, Robin Goes to __Hollywood__, Asylum _and_ Black Magic_) in 4-5 months each, and that's with all the hand-drawn/coloured chapter title pages and everything else on top… So, yeah, actually, if it wasn't for this site, _RTT_ would have been finished long ago… I have been waylaid writing the likes of _Small Print_ with Narroch06, plus lots of one-shots… Anyway, happy 1st birthday to the half-finished _Remember the Titans_…

Okay, to; **TheLon3Wolf8986 **(Raven is doing everything she can to save Robin, as you will see. And of _course_ our Demon Wonder doesn't know what he's doing…); **Dummy **(I didn't _think_ your pen-name was "dummy"… heh-heh… Okay, yeah, sorry about the slash misunderstanding. I'm just glad you like my fic. Oh, and I guess I'm gonna have to pass on the cookie, because I honestly _couldn't_ guess who you are… hmm, elusive… :P); **Thrillzone **(glad you like my updates! And yeah, the Demon Robin/Starfire moments _are_ supposed to be kinda sweet. He's brainless, after all… and the hair gel, yeah… you aren't the only one who liked that line…); **xxNeverComingHomexx **(yay, a new reviewer! Yes, possession is scary, but oh-so-fun to write, seriously… and why aren't you ever going home?); **Seductive Angel **(uh, you don't give a flying rat's butt about _what? _:) And yeah, I guess Robin is a kind of "vampire-demon"; and Star puts being Tamaranean to good use, so it's all dandy!); **Apocalyptic Omens **(ooh, the person with the awesome pen-name has returned… Ah, Jonathon and Marcus, a highly interesting question… What it comes right down to is that, as this is a work of written fiction, you are welcome and indeed encouraged to imagine the characters any way you wish. I don't have any kind of problem with you imagining Marcus as a lot older than Jonathon, because to be perfectly honest, their ages don't make any difference whatsoever. But, to answer your question, I guess they are about the same age, and that age would be sort of early to mid twenties. But please, don't go altering _your_ imagined versions of the characters just because I have said that! I am actually extremely happy by the amount of different interpretations you guys have come up with. It's actually ironic that you all must imagine the Senate House differently to me, and Jonathon, Marcus, Seth, etc… even though I have described it/them by the pictures in MY head, they are going to look different in your imaginations… That's one of the things I love so much about writing – one description of something can conjure up so many different variations of the same thing in different people's minds… Also, yeah, the pentagram – deep apologies, like I said, this is a year old and I didn't research it, I just kind of made stuff up… Ooh, and _Small Print_ isn't finished AT ALL, so don't worry! Although, about that life-size Robin action figure…); **Coolteenzz **(nope, Batman is off chasing those pesky villains that escaped from Arkham in _Asylum_… but not to worry, Raven and the team have a few other candidates in mind to help out with the spell… BTW, you aren't the only one to have been a bit uncomfortable with the RobinxStarfire moments… I would like to point out that he's not exactly… _himself_…); **Kougraness **(Seth is _not_ Batman, or vice-versa, that much I will tell you… As for the necklace… well, that would be telling, but it's not entirely useless… and it's sparkly! And of _course_ I like your reviews – an incentive to give me more!); **ReforgedGaara **(heh, another highly unusual pen-name… mine is pretty cliché, to be perfectly honest…I apologise if it seems as though I am "shorting" Star out; agreeably, she doesn't really have a _terribly_ huge role in _any_ of the three fics, but that's not because I, like so many _other_ Robin-shippers seem to, hate Star. It's not that _at all._ I seriously, genuinely do like her, but this storyline unfortunately doesn't have very much use for her, her background (being Tamaranean) or her powers. Thus her small filler/comic relief parts, rather than the massive roles Robin and Raven have…); **Narroch06 **(well, you know I love your reviews, and I have probably already answered all your questions/comments in some way or another… hmm, well, your Seth Elliott speculations are impressive. I'm not saying they're _right_ (nor am I saying they're wrong), but they are impressive all the same. He's obviously up to _something_, good or bad… And don't start with the whole MarcusxJonathon thing – it's _your_ fault, you lil' grass stain!); **Xrockinrobin **(yeah, those _Harry Potter_ books may not be the greatest books in the world – we Brits are a little more critical of them than everyone else because _they're_ British and we can see through the "Brit charm" – but they sure have sold a lot of copies… Find out a little more about Arella this chapter; and as for your planned marriage to Robin… uh, right, I wouldn't let Daybreak25 and Seductive Angel, to name but two, hear about that… :P); **Unbelievable Sorrow **(as this will most certainly never be a movie of any variety… here's your update! Enjoy!); **Daybreak25 **(ah, yes, about Roy… and this is for YamiTai too, whenever she gets around to reading this… You haven't missed it. He's not in the storyline until _Remember the Titans_, but he _is_ in here, I promise! Jonathon and his whereabouts… ah, yes, that's the thing you'd all like to know the answer to, huh? But wait; you said he'd better not be doing anything meaningless – you consider "doing Marcus off" somewhere a _meaningful_ thing? Uh, yeah, about the RobinxStarfire thing… he's a _demon_! A _brainless demon_! He's not in his right mind! Boy, I am glad this isn't a primarily RobinxStarfire fic…); **Ravenrogue19 **(Jonathon… ah, you all assume he's good… I mean, just because he _helped_, it doesn't mean he hasn't got an agenda of his _own_, now _does_ it? Glad you liked the hair gel thing too; um, as for Jonathon "getting wise" to Seth – sorry, that's probably another British phrase popping up again. It means figuring someone or something out. And again, Bats hasn't been kidnapped or anything else… he's just a busy lil' bat at the moment. He'll be back, don't worry…); **Me **(_another_ RobinxStarfire hater? Oh dear… and as for that cliff-hanger – it's about to be remedied… _now_…); **Rocky-White Wolf of Curses **(nope, nothing is gonna work out… but yeah, there's a third part (it's its birthday today:P) so rest assured that nothing's getting any better any time soon…); **Quinn and His Quill **(yes, wise-ass; the Teen Titans are back on the scene (for now)! And again, about that Jonathon vs. Seth scene… it may happen, it may not. I promise _nothing_, good sir! And who are you calling a "ducky", hmm? Who are you meant to be, _Mad Mod_?); and last but most certainly not least, **RavenandRobin4ever **(another new reviewer! Yay! I am glad you are enjoying it too, and like this update!).

Whew, well… sorry about that. I hope that's everyone.

Anyone seen the _Black Magic_ music video yet?

The Last Resort 

"What are we going to do?" Raven asked the other Teen Titans despairingly, the question rhetorical and echoing around the silent disused sacrificial chamber.

They all looked at each other hopelessly; the newly-demonic Robin watched them all and made another whining noise to get Starfire's attention.

She absently started to stroke his hair again. It was amazing how docile he had become in Starfire's presence, almost like, as Cyborg had said, a kitten. He was not demon-like at all.

"We need someone," Raven went on, her voice beginning to sound desperate. "Someone to help him… the senators are out, Jonathon's disappeared, and…"

She trailed off, her expression brightening as she remembered Jonathon's words to her, and remembered the meeting that day.

Who had been present… and who _hadn't_.

_Arella_ hadn't been there either. Her _mother_ hadn't been there…

"Wait here," she told them, the sudden confidence in her voice and expression confusing them; her Soul Self engulfed her and then she was gone.

Beast Boy, Cyborg and Starfire exchanged glances; Cyborg shrugged.

"Ray knows what she's doing…"

"Let's hope so," Beast Boy muttered in reply, nodding at Robin; the demon boy was beginning to get restless, snapping at Starfire's fingers like a playful kitten. Unfortunately, with his sharpened teeth, he would probably bite her fingers _off_ if he caught them. Starfire didn't seem to mind at all – from descriptions of the animals on Tamaran, she was probably used to such behaviour…

Cyborg scratched his head.

"Am I the only one who suddenly _really_ wants some Ben and Jerry's ice-cream?…"

**TT **

Raven's Soul Self drew back, placing her in the middle of the dark room.

Arella's chamber.

She had, ironically, only been in here once or twice before. She rarely saw her mother, although it was not a choice that either of them had made. It was just the way things had to be…

"Arella?" She asked softly. "Are you here? It's… Raven…"

She didn't get an answer and began to worry; first Jonathon, and now her mother. Arella _should_ be here…

Raven engaged her telekinesis, lighting up the candles in the chandelier above her head. The room was immediately basked in a warm but dull glow, and Raven looked around. As far as she could tell, her mother was not present. Her queen-sized bed was immaculate and the hangings were all drawn back.

"Arella?" Raven asked again, trying to keep from panicking. "Mother?"

Where _was_ she? And where was _Jonathon_? Were they together? The thought that they might be didn't comfort her – just because they were _together_ didn't mean they were _okay_…

She had another quick soul-search, this time looking for her mother, but she couldn't find _her_ either.

Tears of fear, frustration and anger welled in Raven's eyes, but she fiercely blinked them away. This was no time for weakness – all hope of saving Robin from the demon inside him was riding on her. She couldn't break down and cry now, even though she _wanted_ to.

There would be time soon enough for sitting back and accepting the inevitable. For now, she knew she could make a difference; maybe she couldn't save _herself_, but she could sure as hell save _Robin_.

As for Arella's disappearance… that was something she was not going to allow to rest, not until she had found her. But for now, even her _mother_ was not at the top of her priority list. The same applied to Jonathon – boy, was she going to _kick_ his ass…

But right now, the Teen Titans had to save their leader (or so-called leader, anyway…), and they were fast running out of candidates to be the fifth person in the spell…

She wrapped herself in her Soul Self again and melted through the multiple layers of time and space to place herself back in the sacrificial chamber where the other Titans awaited her.

"Raven!" Cyborg exclaimed as she withdrew her black spectral soul presence; he sounded surprised to see her back so soon.

Beast Boy made his presence known too by prowling behind her, his ears twitching.

"I thought you were going to _get_ someone, Raven…" He looked up at her, his green eyes questioning. "Someone to _help_."

Raven glared at him over her shoulder, masking her fear for her mother in the expression.

"Yeah, well, she wasn't available, unfortunately…" She tugged her hood up, feeling sick. Was there _anyone_ left?

Beast Boy looked at Starfire thoughtfully; she was still petting Robin's hair. He was being extremely fidgety – pulling at her long hair curiously, pawing at her, hissing at his reflection in the metal of her gauntlets and generally just making a nuisance of himself. She amiably put up with it, even though he was practically in her lap; although she smacked his hand away when he made a sudden grab for her breasts, and hissed something at him in Tamaranean. He hissed back and licked his hand, glaring at her balefully.

Maybe his "innocence" was beginning to irk her a little; probably, were he himself, and were they alone, she would not have smacked his hand away had he made that gesture. But it was obvious that she didn't want a brainless demon boy feeling her up, especially seeing as he didn't seem to understand what he was even doing.

Or so _she_ thought, anyway. It _was_ an _indulgence_ demon, after all…

"Hey, what about Blackfire?" Beast Boy asked suddenly, breaking the silence, as though the sight of the alien girl had just inspired him.

Raven and Cyborg both glowered at him.

"You kidding us, man?" Cyborg asked darkly. Beast Boy shrugged.

"Well, she liked Robin ok; I thought maybe-"

"Beast Boy, she's a _criminal_," Raven reminded him witheringly.

"Agreed," Starfire chipped in; her grip on Robin became more possessive at the mention of her older sister, despite her smacking him away only a few moments before. He wriggled against her, his tail flicking. "Besides, she is in prison on the Centauri Moon System."

Beast Boy looked dejected.

"It was just an idea."

"Yeah, a _bad_ one," Cyborg corrected flatly. "Is there _no-one_ else? Robin must have had other crime-fighting buddies before _us_."

"None that I can ever remember him mentioning," Raven answered. "I mean, there's Superman and the rest of the Justice League, but I don't know where _they_ are either. And I remember him once saying something about a Wonder Girl, but-"

"You mean Wonder _Woman_," Cyborg corrected.

Raven shook her head.

"No, it was definitely Wonder _Girl_. Donna Troy, I think he said her name was… either way, I'd never even heard of her before he said it, and I don't have a clue where we would find her…"

"Larry?" Beast Boy suggested.

Raven pulled a face.

"_I'm_ not going dimension-hopping after that annoying little… _whatever_ he was," she said firmly. "I haven't got an inkling where we'd even _start_ to look for him…"

Beast Boy frowned.

"Mad Mod?"

"He's a _villain_, B," Cyborg said irritably. "We kicked his can and put him in the slammer, remember?"

"Oh, yeah… Thunder and Lightning?"

"Yeah, I feel like cloud-cruisin' lookin' for _those_ two."

Beast Boy wracked his brains.

"Uhh… jeez, we meet more bad guys than we do good guys…"

"That's 'cause we're _superheroes_," Cyborg reminded him drolly.

"What about the pizza delivery guy?"

"B.B, the pizza joint ain't gonna be open at 12:30am. It's not open 24 hour."

"More's the pity," Beast Boy muttered darkly. "We could've got him to bring me a double mushroom and soy cheese while he was at it…"

Cyborg sighed heavily in defeat.

"This is hopeless," he said quietly. "What're we gonna do, Ray?"

Raven shook her head in despair.

"I don't know…"

"Oh, please do not give up!" Starfire cried. "We must think of something!"

"Thought you _liked_ Wonder Boy that way, Star," Cyborg acknowledged flatly.

An odd expression came over the alien girl's face.

"Truthfully…" She lowered her head, her voice quiet as though she was embarrassed. "…He is starting to annoy me a little bit…"

Robin whined as though in response and bumped his head against her hand in a cat-like gesture to get her to pet him some more. She sighed and obliged.

"He is not _Robin_ this way," she explained, looking up again. "I do not like to see him like this. He cannot talk or think… he should not be this way. Please, we must help him return to normal. I would not want him to be like this forever." She blushed a little, dipping her head. "Also, he is rather uncharacteristically perverted…"

The others nodded in understanding, noting that one of his clawed hands was back resting extremely near one of her breasts. Starfire removed it, muttering something else in her native language. He made a reproachful little growling noise and continued to look sulky as she scratched his hair.

Raven, not wanting to look at them anymore, looked instead at the door in hope that Jonathon would turn up… But she knew it was not going to happen. Something had waylaid him, or he had forgotten and gone to bed or something, or he had left the building and gone elsewhere…

…or _Seth_ had got him…

Did she _really_ believe that Seth was bad? Or—

"Terra."

Raven whipped around, glaring at Beast Boy, who had spoken in soft tones.

"Did you just say what I _think_ you said?" She spat. Beast Boy swallowed and nodded tersely.

"Raven, just-"

"I cannot _believe_ you!" Raven snapped, interrupting the shape-shifter. "_Terra?_ Of _all_ people, _Terra?_"

"Raven, _please_…" Beast Boy's pointed ears flattened as he pleaded his case.

"Beast Boy, Terra _did this_ to Robin!" Raven shrieked, pointing wildly at Robin; he hissed at her flailing hand and lashed his tail threateningly.

"She did _not_," Beast Boy said defensively. "_Slade_ did."

"She _helped_ him to do it," Raven snapped. "That's as good as."

"No it's not," Beast Boy argued. "She was really upset when it happened, remember she was telling Robin to escape before Slade shot him-"

"Beast Boy, Terra is an accomplished liar, and an even better actor," Raven said coldly. "She pretended she was on _our_ side, when actually she was working for Slade and giving away all our secrets and weaknesses…"

"Terra's _not_ evil," Beast Boy replied, equally icily. "She's confused, she's never had any kind of security and it's caused her to make some bad choices. But it's _not_ the same as being evil."

Raven looked at him for a very long time; Cyborg and Starfire were both watching too, silent, while Robin purred happily as Starfire stroked the soft hair at the nape of his neck, oblivious that he was the cause of the argument.

"So… let's get this straight, Beast Boy…" Raven closed her violet eyes and sighed heavily. "You think that we should get Terra – the apprentice of the villain who did this to Robin and wants him _dead_ – to help us to exorcise the demon from Robin; the same one which she helped to put there in the first place."

"Please, Ray…" Beast Boy sighed too. "I know it's a long shot… but Terra, she wouldn't want to see Robin like this, I _know_ she wouldn't. She'd help us, Raven, if only we could convince her."

Raven snorted and looked at Cyborg; the half-robot shrugged, a pained expression on his dark face.

"It's not the best plan ever, but it's the only one we got," he said. "Sorry, Ray… I'm gonna have to side with B on this one."

"And if Terra won't help us?" Raven asked dangerously.

"She will," Starfire said from the altar. "Beast Boy is correct; Terra is not bad."

"But if she _doesn't?_"

Beast Boy sighed, his shoulders slumping in defeat.

"I don't know…"

Raven folded her arms. She hated it, but Cyborg was right; it was the only plan they had, the only _candidate_ they had. She could only hope – for Terra's sake – that the earth-mover agreed to help them. If she didn't…

"Alright," she said with a nod. "Beast Boy, you're coming with me. Terra and I… don't get on all that well." She looked at Cyborg, then at Starfire. "You two stay here with Robin."

They both nodded and Robin glared balefully at Raven as she gave out the orders. Almost as though… somehow, he recognised it as _his_ place.

She turned away abruptly and pulled up her hood.

"Come on, Beast Boy," she said abruptly over her shoulder. Beast Boy moved up behind her as she spoke the enchantment and opened the glowing portal back to the real world. She offered him her hand; the shape-shifter took it and Raven led him back through to planet Earth.

"Good luck, guys," Cyborg called after them.

**TT**

They touched down on the dusty ground on Titans Island. Raven released Beast Boy's hand and looked up at the Tower.

"Why'd we come back here, Raven?" Beast Boy inquired. "Terra's not _here_, is she?"

Raven shook her head, her hood still up.

"No, but I figured that this would be a good place to start."

Beast Boy nodded in agreement, looking up at Titans Tower stretching to the night sky high above them. The windows were dark and its emptiness made it look strangely lonely.

"Hey, Raven, how about I go in and make us a cup of…"

Beast Boy trailed off as he turned to face Raven and saw that she was doing that out-of-body-life-force-detection thing again.

"_Soo_… where is she?" The shape-shifter inquired as Raven came back to her own senses. Raven turned to look at him, a scowl on her face.

"You're not going to believe this," she told him darkly, "… she's Downtown."

Beast Boy's green eyes widened.

"What, causing trouble?"

Raven's scowl deepened.

"No. She's in a club."

Beast Boy cocked his head.

"A club? But she's-"

"You know that old-style jazz place?" Raven interrupted. "The New York or LA sort of one, as though it was straight out of the Forties? Remember we dressed "normally" and Bruce took us there about a week after the whole "Joker Incident" to thank us for our help?"

"Oh, yeah," Beast Boy said in earnest. "That place was cool. They had live jazz and blues bands and cigarette girls and everything. It was like being in 1940s Chicago or Broadway or Hollywood… or something…"

Raven nodded.

"Yeah. Well, she's in there."

Beast Boy stared at her.

"You're kidding."

"I kid you not."

"Guess we get to pay the jazz-hole another visit then."

"It would appear that way."

Beast Boy actually grinned.

"So, we burst in there in true 40s mobster fashion and negotiate with her, right?"

"If you want to phrase it that way," Raven said flatly.

"You can be my gun moll, Raven."

Raven snorted and rose into the air, whispering her mantra.

"You wish."

She soared off across Gotham City River in the direction of the glittering city ahead. Beast Boy morphed into a green eagle and with a single flap of his wide wings took off after her.

Soon they landed in Main Street; even at this late – or early – hour, most of the restaurants and entertainment facilities were still open, lit up and glittering.

"Hey, Raven, remember when Robin got into that weird Hollywood-nostalgia mood?" Beast Boy asked as he changed back to his human form.

"Yes," Raven answered vaguely. "It was during the "Joker Incident"."

"Well, I'm starting to think the guy had a point," Beast Boy went on, looking around at the lit-up street. "_Look_ at this place. It's nothing like Gotham, that's for sure. This place is like a little mini Hollywood, only it's got _us_ instead of movie stars."

"Mmm." Raven was preoccupied with looking around for the jazz bar. She soon found it, lit up with blue neon signs stating "Jazz Central USA". There was a lit-up panel-picture of Elvis Presley on the left hand side of the open double doorway; on the other, a neon sign with a list of that night's cabaret acts. Lively jazz music poured onto the street.

"Wasn't Elvis rock 'n' roll?" Beast Boy asked, coming to her side.

"Yes," Raven replied in a bored voice, "but it's a gimmick to get people to go in."

"Yeah… who _doesn't_ like Elvis?" Beast Boy said happily; he felt good just to be out of Azarath and back in lively Jump City.

"_Me_," Raven answered flatly, even though the question had been rhetorical, as she went into the club.

"Raven," Beast Boy sighed as he went after her, "you don't like _anything_…"

It was certainly the complete opposite to Azarath. No robes, no candles, no meditation… no possessed teen superheroes with wings sticking out of their back. On the contrary, this place was very much alive, a trio of musicians dressed almost identically to the Blues Brothers up on the stage belting out a great jazz piece on piano, drums and saxophone. The long bar was packed, the waiters and waitresses dressed in attire of the 40s jazz-scene period, and all of the customers were dressed nicely. Almost half of them were smoking or playing cards, while others laughed and talked and listened to the band.

Nearly all of them were staring at Beast Boy and Raven as they made their way through the crowd in search of Terra, some in recognition, others sneering at their clothes and the fact that they were not wearing tuxedos and pearls.

"Where's Terra?" Beast Boy called to Raven as the music swelled to a crescendo. Raven looked around and suddenly pointed to a secluded corner booth.

"There, I think," she answered. She led the way through the crowd as they stood and applauded the band in a standing ovation.

Sure enough, the blonde earth-mover was sitting by herself, the only one in casual clothes – her black "T" top and tan shorts – and sipping a tall drink with several little decorations sticking out of it. Her blue eyes were on the Blues Brothers-look-alikes on the stage, but she did not look happy. She looked very lonely, too.

Raven stepped in front of the small round table, obscuring her view of the stage. Terra looked up and her eyes widened in horror.

"Hello, Terra," Raven greeted her icily, her amethyst eyes narrowed within the shadow of her hood.

"Raven," Terra replied equally coolly, getting to her feet. She clenched her gloved fists.

"Terra, Raven, stop," Beast Boy said quickly, stepping in. Terra averted her gaze to him, as she had not noticed his presence before, and looked away again.

"Terra, we didn't come here to pick a fight with you," Beast Boy pressed.

"Oh yeah?" Terra said defensively. "Why not? You have every reason to."

Raven snorted and Beast Boy elbowed her.

"Terra, please… I know you're not… a Titan anymore, but you _have_ to help us."

"That would be "_have_ to" as in "you have no choice"," Raven added pleasantly.

"Why should I help _you_ guys?" Terra asked icily, stirring a little plastic palm tree around her glass absently. "It's not like you're my _friends_; you said that yourself, Beast Boy, remember?"

Beast Boy's pointed ears twitched.

"Terra, I didn't-"

"Mean it?" Terra finished with a bitter little laugh. "Well, hey; I guess you were right."

"Terra, that's not true," Beast Boy argued softly. "_I'm_ your friend."

Terra snorted.

"I don't _need_ any friends, Beast Boy…"

"Oh, that's right," Raven put in smoothly, "because _Slade's_ your best buddy."

Terra froze, then glared at Raven.

"Shut up, witch," she responded maliciously. Raven did not appear offended; on the contrary, she seemed amused.

"Terra, I'd be lying if I said that I didn't want to hurt you," the telepath said softly. "Unfortunately, we need you, and you _will_ help us."

Terra drew herself up to her full height and looked at them both defiantly.

"No, I won't. You can't _make_ me do anything."

She tried to push past them both out of the booth, but Beast Boy blocked her path.

"Terra, it's Robin," he told her, his green eyes pleading. "He's going to _die_ if you don't help us."

Terra seemed to stiffen slightly; her expression certainly became more passive.

"What do _I_ care?" She asked, her voice forced. "He's not my friend, and it's part of the prophecy…"

"You _do_ care, Terra," Beast Boy said softly. "I know you do. He's in a really bad way, a full-on possession thing. He's not even _human_ anymore, Terra."

"Good." Terra struggled to make her voice sound nonchalant. "That just makes it easier-"

"Why aren't I _killing_ you yet!" Raven spat, interrupting her. "You helped to do this to Robin, and now you're going to help _undo_ it. It's as simple as that, Terra."

Terra looked at her for a very long time.

"Do either of you _realise_ what Slade would _do_ to me if I helped you to save the Avenger's life?" She whispered finally. She shook her blonde-maned head. "He'd _kill_ me."

"Then don't go back to him, Terra," Beast Boy said in frustration. "Come and be a Titan again."

Terra shook her head again, this time more vigorously.

"Beast Boy, I can't… god, no-one seems to be able to _understand_ that. I made a vow to him; I can't break it, I just _can't_…"

"But he's evil, Terra," Beast Boy pressed. "_You_ don't seem to be able to understand _that_."

"He _helped_ me, Beast Boy." She sighed and turned away. "You just wouldn't understand…"

"Where _is_ he, anyway?" Raven inquired icily, looking around. "Cutting the jazz scene, is he?"

Terra snorted and turned around again.

"_As if_. I don't know where he is. City's been quiet since you guys bailed out a few days ago; he told me to go out into the city and get out of his sight."

"_Charming_," Raven murmured.

_Which means he's planning something_, she realised. The sooner Robin was back to normal and they were all back in Jump City the better.

"Terra, please help us," Beast Boy begged "Despite the prophecy… you don't _really_ want Robin to die, do you?"

Terra didn't speak for a while.

"I don't _know_," she said finally, her voice small.

"You'll have his death on your hands for the rest of your life," Raven added icily. "Not to mention countless others, if you allow Slade to get his way."

"Terra, this is far more important than even just saving Robin because he's our friend," Beast Boy said quietly. "We _can't_ allow that prophecy to be fulfilled. I don't even think _Slade_ knows the full potential of that orb."

"And if Robin dies, we'll all lose our powers; we won't be able to stop him." Raven looked piercingly at Terra. "Even _you_ would lose yours, though I doubt Slade has even _considered_ that eventuality."

Terra looked at her hands.

"I'd… lose my powers?..."

Beast Boy looked wildly at Raven. That had _so_ been completely the _wrong_ thing to say…

"Terra, the point is that no-one would be able to stop Slade from unleashing the apocalypse on the world," Beast Boy said quickly.

"But I'd lose my powers?"

"Terra, would you sacrifice Robin's life, and the lives of all the innocents who would die by Slade's hand, just for the lifting of your own curse?" Raven questioned coldly. "You have a great power, Terra, control over the very earth itself. It's not the power that is a curse; it's _you_, and the way you choose to use it. You could be capable of saving lives everywhere, prospering vegetation where soil is poor and undernourished, blocking raging rivers, stopping volcanoes and earthquakes and landslides. But instead you choose to waste it by helping Slade to destroy the world."

"It's not that simple, Raven," Terra snapped, looking up. Raven's violet eyes gleamed.

"Yes it is, Terra," she fired back. "It's _you_ who makes it out to be complicated."

She turned to Beast Boy.

"This isn't going to work," she said with a sigh. "Let's go back to the Tower and go through Robin's files. Maybe there's someone else who we can contact."

Beast Boy blinked.

"But, _Terra_… we came all the way here-"

"For her to truly show us what kind of person she is," Raven finished coolly. "Let's not waste any more time."

She turned on her heel and swept back through the crowd – who were all singing along to a rigorous rendition of jazz classic "Mack the Knife" – making for the open doorway. Beast Boy looked desperately at Terra.

"Terra, _please_-"

"Don't, Beast Boy."

Terra turned away, hugging herself.

Beast Boy stepped back, his pointed ears flattened. He gazed at her but she did not turn around, and after a painful, lingering moment he tore himself away, going after Raven.

_I still love you, Terra… _

"They givin' you trouble, sugar?"

Terra blinked and looked up.

A middle-aged man in a black tuxedo and crisp white shirt was leaning over the panel to her booth, his bowtie undone and hanging loose around his collar. His hair was a medium brown colour, with a few streaks of grey, and his eyes were – she couldn't tell too well in the dark – greenish, she thought. They were twinkling knowingly as he looked at her, and there was a cigarette stuck out of the side of his mouth.

She forced a smile.

"No, thanks. I'm… fine…" She gazed down the club at the doorway.

"Couldn't help but overhear your conversation," the man went on brightly. Terra looked sharply at him.

"What?"

The man laughed.

"Don't look so alarmed. I'm a bit of an occult researcher myself; I don't think you and your little friends are mad or anything.

'Sides, those two are from that kid superhero team, aren't they?"

Terra nodded in confirmation, a little wary of this weird stranger.

"Although – now forgive me for seeming pushy, kiddo – but the idea of an apocalypse wiping us all out don't sound too good to me," the man went on, inhaling on his cigarette. "In fact, it sounds to me like those other two – the green one and the witchy-lookin' one – were on to somethin'. You know, 'bout savin' the world an' all. I dunno what the heck this "Avenger" thing is they were on about, but by _Robin_ I'm gonna assume you were referring to that dark-haired kid who used to kick around with that freaky Batman guy. Am I right?"

Terra nodded wordlessly.

"Hmm. Thought so." The man puffed thoughtfully on his cigarette. "Nice-looking kid, last time I saw him in Gotham. Jeez… he must have been about _nine_ then, though. Little shorty-pants, he used to wear; colour scheme used to make him stick out like a sore thumb… anyway, I digress." He peered hard at Terra. "My point, angel eyes, is that you get your pretty little rear-end in gear and go after those two before it's too late. I just invested in $10, 000 worth of shares and I hear the stock market's about to go _boom_. I'll be _rich_, and an apocalypse would really interfere with that, you know?"

He flicked some ash over his shoulder.

"So do us all a favour, kiddo," he went on carelessly. "Go and save Batman's kid from whatever fate has in store for him. You're not one of the bad guys, I can tell. Besides…" He grinned, breathing out a cloudful of smoke. "That green kid really has the hots for you. Don't blow it."

Terra stared at him, unable to utter a sound. He was so _weird_… Not to mention the most brazen person she had ever come across. Although…

She stepped backwards. Somehow, he had persuaded her. He was right; Raven and Beast Boy were right…

She _had_ to end this.

"Thanks!" She called back to the tuxedo-guy as she started through the crowd. He grinned and saluted her with his cigarette.

Shaking her head, she made for the street outside.

_Jeez, you sure meet the **strangest** people in that place…

* * *

_

Yes, hooray for the crazy all-in-your-business guy…

So… they have enlisted Terra… for now… Sorry to all Terra-haters; unfortunately, she is a rather important character, even though she hasn't really been in it too much. Plus the opening to slip in a little more BBxTerra (one of my very favourite pairings on _Teen Titans_) was really both too good to pass up and so painfully obvious…

Two things:

Robin's "Hollywood Nostalgia Mood" – it was basically the metaphor that _Robin Goes to Hollywood_ was written around. He didn't actually go to Hollywood, nor did he star in a movie or anything. It was called _Robin Goes to Hollywood_ because of all these references and metaphors and things in there, and a lot of it was to do with Robin's psychological standing, and I guess he was maybe a little crazy in that fic… I am proud of that one, I wish I hadn't lost it; I think it's my favourite one that I have written…

Wonder Girl – my thoughts on her. I am **SO** mad that she has never appeared in the show. Wonder Girl a.k.a Donna Troy is my _favourite_ of the original 80s _New Teen Titans_ team (yes, I prefer her to the _NTT_ Robin…) and I am so pissed off that she has never featured in the show at all, even as a cameo. Every other character has managed to make it in there, even stupid ones who weren't in it for very long (e.g. Kole, who died (_cackle_) in _Crisis on Infinite Earths_); Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, Raven, Beast Boy, Terra, Speedy, Aqualad, Bumblebee, Kid Flash (my _least_ favourite – that whiner…), Jericho, Kole, Red Star… I mean, you're talking some pretty tenuous characters here, who only showed up a few times…

But _Wonder Girl_? One of the originals, I might add (from _way_ back in the 60s, when _TT_ was first created – she was in there _way_ before even Star, Cy, BB and Raven) has never shown up _at all_? Not even in a cameo role? Actually, I lie – if you look at _Calling All Titans_, on the bit where it shows you where all the Titans are (in the north, south, east and west) when Robin does the test of the communication system, you _do_ see a picture of Wonder Girl (it's obviously her) somewhere on the right, _but_…

…_where_ is she in the big final battle? Uh, hello? _Why_ did she get left out? Seriously? Every single one of the 80s team has been in there at some point except for her (even characters who were only in it for like, a _year_, such as Terra and Kole), and she was one of the main ones. I don't understand why they didn't include her. I was _so_ mad that she wasn't in it – like I said, she's my favourite in the original comic series and I would loved to have seen the cartoon adaptation of her…

Rant of the day over. Please leave a review after the tone, and have a nice day. :)

_Beeeep_.

- RobinRocks xXx


	29. The Soul and the Senator

Well, actually, the response for the last chappie wasn't as good as the ones before it (13 compared to 20, and then _that_ compared to the 39 before _that_ again), **BUT **I haven't left it nearly so long before updating, either… I appreciate that some people haven't gotten around to even reading it yet.

However… I am updating today as a present for **Poison's Ivy**, formerly known as **Ravenrogue19**. She informed me in her (very long) review that today, Wednesday 19th July, is her birthday, _so_… she gets _this_. A very happy birthday to you, my dear; and thankyou for the _massive_ review! Uh, to answer your questions… Starfire saying "perverted"… ah, it could happen… if the producers hadn't CANCELLED SEASON SIX! _Ah ha ha ha… _Um, I don't _think_ anyone is on Mars – you never know… Terra; yeah, people tend to forget about her. She hasn't been in it too much. She _is_ important, though. Glad you trying to figure out Seth, though. He's a tricky one… But you don't like Terra _at all_? Oh, that's bad… _why_ doesn't anyone like her? Heh, BB seems like an Elvis Presley fan to me… Oh, and Batman _is_ freaky. Of course he is… Anyway, hope you like this "present". Have a great birthday!

Additionally, to; **Me** (I'm gonna talk about WG in a second, because a lot of people mentioned her; it doesn't matter if you hate RobinxStarfire – this fic is not primarily to do with that pairing. It is maybe one-sided coming from Star, but… oh, well, you will have to wait and see, won't you? And Jonathon? That would be telling…); **Ropple **(yes, I know I bitch about everything… but you don't _have_ to read the ANs. They are more for my amusement… You can just skip straight to the fic. Anyway… yup, about WG below. Thanks for the review, anyway!); **Coolteenzz **(Yes, Terra is back, and on their side… for now. Jonathon… I ain't saying a word. BTW, you are another Terra hater? Am I the only person involved with this fic (and as the writer…) who actually _likes_ her? Don't any of you guys like her _at all_? As for writing a chapter… well, the chapters for _Remember the Titans_ are much, much longer than these (they'll be chopped up like this when I put it up here) but usually it takes me about four nights…); **Rocky-White Wolf of Curses **(up past your bedtime, hmm? Go to bed, bad girly:) Seriously, hope reading this didn't get you into trouble…); **Apocalyptic Omens **(Seth's hair is black, like Robin's… only it is long… as for your hunches about the aforementioned Head Senator… you _might_ just be on to something… but I can't tell you anything, because that would spoil _everything_, and you wouldn't want that, would you…? As for the RobinxRaven lemon you require… um, well, there is that chapter _Forbidden Love._ Didn't that satisfy you? Well, I might just have something in mind for a lot later on, if you can wait that long…); **RavenandRobin4ever** (okay, I'll keep it up!); **Seductive Angel **(don't start me about Elvis Presley – I _love_ him! His music is _awesome_, he was _gorgeous _(at least when he was young) and he's so iconic… what is not to love? Long live the King (although he is dead…)! How are you liking "bitchy little cat" Pookie:) And yes, death to WB!); **Daybreak25 **(oh, wait, _you_ like Terra! Yay! Someone! As for Robin… yes, he's being a pest, to put it mildly, but Raven is about to remedy that. And no way have you missed Roy! He'll be here eventually… and about him being the 5th person… it didn't _occur_ to me a year ago, okay? _Deal_ with it:P); **CrazyInsomniac** (right, so _you're_ "Dummy"? Really and truly?Guess I don't get my cookie, but it's nice to know who you really are… Heh, calling Terra a "wretched lowlife" cracked me up, actually… and Robin can't help acting like a pervert… bless him…); **Quinn and His Quill **(I'm just screwing with ya, Quinny… if it was _easy_ to figure this fic out, would you actually _read_ it? Maybe you will get a few answers here… and maybe not…); **YamiTai **(glad you're still here even though it's difficult for you to read it now. I know you love Jonathon, too – would say you are the original Jonathon fan… Oh, Black Magic will probably have around… 34 chapters? Maybe a little more. Something like that, though. But don't despair – there is still _Remember the Titans_ too!); and **TheLon3Wolf8986 **(ooh, thankyou for going to the trouble of borrowing your friend's computer! Hope yours is fixed soon and hope you're enjoying it! Glad to hear you like Terra too!). **Everyone else,** including my partner-in-crime **Narroch06 **- who _has_ read it, she assures me - enjoy!

**Wonder Girl – **I think I confused people with my rant. I _know_ she showed up in a cameo role – on the screens when the Brotherhood of Evil are like "blahblahblah, kill them all!". I meant she never _physically_ showed up, not even in the big battle at the end. It implied that she actually wasn't even _captured_. That irritated me – I would loved to have seen her, even if she didn't speak. However, Daybreak25 explained something to me about DC being cheapskates concerning her, so that maybe explains a few things… But yeah, I know she was _there_. Just… she wasn't _really_ there… They should have left her out altogether if that was how they were going to be…

This chapter; more stuff with Raven, the Titans and the Demon Wonder, the return of Seth Elliott, and some BBxTerra...

Again, before we begin – happy birthday to **Poison's Ivy**. This chapter is dedicated to you!

The Soul and the Senator 

Her thoughts still pounding, echoing the words of the strange man, Terra ran outside and looked around for Beast Boy and Raven. She found them across the street, standing next to an all-night taco and smoothie vendor.

They were arguing.

Glad that she had caught them, she pounded over to them.

"Beast Boy!"

Startled, Beast Boy whipped around; his grin face broke into a grin as he saw Terra running towards them.

"Terra!" He cried in return. She stopped inches short of him.

"I want to help," she said breathlessly, pushing her blonde hair out of her face. Before she could even respond, Beast Boy had enveloped her in a hug.

"Oh, Terra!" He said happily. "I knew you would!"

Raven snorted from behind them and Beast Boy broke his grip on Terra.

"Raven, isn't this great?" He beamed. "Now we don't have to go deep-sea diving for Aqualad after all!"

"_Super_." Raven didn't smile, her arms folded. She was eyeing Terra with a look of intense dislike. "And how do we know this isn't another trick?"

"_Raven!_" Beast Boy was appalled. He looked quickly at Terra; her mouth was little more than a tight line.

Raven shrugged and turned away.

"I'll open the portal," she said offhandedly. She started to chant distantly, her back to them.

"_So_… what changed your mind?" Beast Boy asked in what he hoped sounded like a casual voice.

Terra looked at him and smiled oddly.

"A weird guy in a tuxedo," she answered truthfully.

She giggled at Beast Boy's half-amazed, half-bemused expression as she and the shape-shifter followed Raven through the glowing portal to Azarath. There was nothing more than that dazzling white light for a few moments… and then it cleared and they were back in the dark, eerie chamber, this time with Terra in tow.

"_Wow_…" Terra looked up at the ceiling, then around at the walls.

"Ray, B.B!" Cyborg greeted them, relief evident in his voice. He looked at Terra. "Hey, Terra."

His voice was a little cool but he _was_ pleased to see her; now they could help Robin.

"Hey, Cyborg," Terra returned the gesture.

"Cy, isn't this _great?_" Beast Boy said excitedly, seizing Terra's wrist.

Cyborg nodded pertly.

"Yeah… great, B…" He averted his gaze to Raven.

"Glad you're back, Ray," he went on. "We've been having a bit of… trouble…"

Raven pulled down her hood as she regarded the tall half-robot.

"_Trouble?_" She repeated warily.

Cyborg snorted.

"Yeah, well, Star figured it would be a good idea to blast through the Demon Wonder's wrist restraints," he said darkly, folding his arms. "_Bad_ idea…"

Raven stared at him.

"She did _what?_"

She looked wildly in Starfire's direction. The alien girl smiled faintly at her from where she was sitting on the altar. Robin was curled up next to her, his head in her lap with his hands now free. He was asleep, it appeared, his wings wrapped around his body as though to conserve heat. His sash was now tied at his waist, covering him to halfway down his thighs.

Raven sighed with relief. She had been expecting them to tell her he was up in the rafters and they couldn't get him down or something.

"He's ok now," Cyborg explained. "But when Star let him go, he went a bit… _nuts_… Took me _and_ Star to restrain him, and it wasn't without injury."

"Who did he hurt?" Raven asked. Cyborg pointed to Starfire and Raven looked at her again; there was a long, deep scratch on the alien girl's left shoulder.

"Are you alright, Starfire?" Raven inquired worriedly. Starfire nodded.

"Oh, yes, thankyou, Raven," she replied, still nodding. "It does not hurt. It was an accident."

Raven looked disbelieving but Cyborg nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, he didn't do it on purpose; he accidentally got her with one of the claws on his wings. That was when he was trying to bite _me_."

"Did he settle down after that?"

"Yeah, after he saw he'd hurt Star."

Raven frowned at the cut.

"It's very clean," she acknowledged. "There's no blood."

"That's 'cause she let him lick it clean."

Cyborg shuddered. Raven looked at Starfire again, disgusted.

"Starfire, do you know how _dangerous_ that is?" She asked witheringly. "His saliva might contain some kind of venom now, and even if it _doesn't_, that's _still_ disgusting."

Starfire merely blinked at her; Robin shifted in his sleep and she absently touched his hair.

Raven sighed and turned away from the pair of them.

_Between aliens and demons… maybe she **is** better suited to him than I am; they're both as weird as each other… _

She turned her attention to Beast Boy and Terra; the shape-shifter was telling her something – with added elaborate gestures – and the blonde earth-mover was giggling slightly.

"Beast Boy, if you would give _me_ your undivided attention instead of Terra, we can begin," Raven said icily, making them both jump. Beast Boy started to dust himself off as though he was covered in chalk or something; Terra tried to stop giggling.

"You ready to do this thing, Ray?" Cyborg asked.

Raven nodded.

"Yes," she said firmly. She pulled up her hood again and went to the pentagram, gesturing for Beast Boy, Cyborg and Terra to follow her.

"Starfire, come on," she ordered, kneeling down on the top point of the chalk star and picking up the book. Even as she did so, she couldn't help but still be miffed at Jonathon…

_Jerk_…

Starfire looked down at Robin for a few moments, wondering how to get out without waking him up. She supported his head in one hand and shifted sideways, laying him down again on the cold stone. His tail flicked slightly but he didn't wake up. Starfire breathed a sigh of relief as she floated over to the pentagram and settled herself at the last point.

"Ok, first we need to draw a little blood from each of us," Raven explained, consulting the Azarathian spell. She set it aside and picked up instead the tiny urn and the silver dagger. "I'll go first." She looked around at them all icily. "No-one scream when it's their turn. Understood?"

They all nodded silently, afraid to do anything other than agree.

"Good."

Raven grasped the silver knife and picked it up, raising it to her palm and setting the tip down right on her longest lifeline. She took a deep breath and quickly thrust it downwards a little way. Blood seeped from her pierced flesh as she jerked the knife backwards and put it down again, instead reaching for the urn. She splayed her palm over it and waited patiently for a fair amount of her blood to drip into it. When she was satisfied she whispered her mantra and the cut in her hand healed over.

"I'll do the rest of you too," she said blandly, knowing that they would freak out if they had to do it themselves.

They all nodded in agreement even as Raven moved on to Cyborg, who was next to her. He indicated to a bare part of flesh on his upper arm; Raven nodded and got to work, knowing that Cyborg's hands were metal.

Soon she was done and sat swilling the mingled red liquid around the tiny urn, while the others checked their palms to make sure that Raven had healed them satisfactorily; Raven had also healed the cut on Starfire's shoulder.

"Starfire, here."

Starfire looked up from her hand and saw that Raven was holding out the urn to her. She put her head to one side.

"Why are you giving me that, Raven?"

"You have to anoint Robin with it," Raven explained.

Starfire looked horrified.

"Me? But Raven, I cannot-"

"I'm sorry, Starfire," Raven interrupted grimly. "But I am unable to do it myself; the evil within him is too great for me to approach at such close proximity. And besides, if he wakes up, you are the only who he trusts."

Starfire nodded and gingerly took the urn from Raven. She rose and went over to the sleeping demon boy on the altar.

"Just get some on your fingers and smear it on his forehead," Raven instructed.

Starfire nodded and sat down next to him again. However, she was unable to get at his forehead; he was curled up into a ball with one wing sprawled open, covering his upper torso, arms and head. She tried to shift his wing and he moved it sharply in his sleep, a sort of half-flapping movement. Starfire quickly withdrew her hand and looked down at him in dismay. There was no way she could get to his forehead without waking him up. She moved his wing aside again, holding it this time as he shifted it irritably. She lifted it right up, feeling it tug against her grip, and his eyes fluttered open behind his mask. The jewel at his neck glittered on the stone, reminding her of the liquid she had to anoint him with.

She spoke to him softly in fluent Tamaranean, massaging his soft dark hair. He made a little purring sound and shifted comfortably. Starfire took a deep breath and dipped two fingers into the red liquid in the urn, shivering as she felt the blood on them. She withdrew her fingers and reached out towards him. He lifted his head and seemed to think she was trying to feed him; he opened his mouth and she saw his sharp white teeth.

She shook her head, speaking this time in English.

"No, Robin… you cannot eat this. This is to help you get better."

He hissed at the sound of the language, closing his mouth again and moving backwards. Starfire reached out her hand again and his tail flicked threateningly, his wings drew back and rustled, his masked eyes narrowed and he gripped the uneven stone surface of the altar with his freed clawed hands. Every muscle in his now stronger build was pulled taut and he was hissing slightly at her.

"Robin, please do not do this," Starfire pleaded, still reaching out for him. "You must allow us to help you…"

Still he recoiled, backing away into the shadows consuming the furthest side of the altar.

"Starfire, you are going to panic him," Raven said firmly, coming to Starfire's side.

Robin's attention immediately turned from Starfire to Raven and he glared at her, his overall demeanour suddenly becoming even more savage and primal. He made a growling sound that didn't sound possible from a human body; it sounded like a lion's or a tiger's.

He sprang at her with more force and speed than even his acrobatic skill had granted him before. Starfire screamed and leapt forwards, but missed him. Raven didn't even have time to throw up a barrier; he smashed right into her, sending them both slamming to the hard floor. As soon as he touched her burning pain exploded in her mind, and as she hit the floor she could feel it taking over, exploiting her as it had done last night… Her eyes opened, all four of them, blazing crimson from within the shadow cast by her hood, and it was demon against demon as he pinned her to the floor, hissing and growling at her.

"Robin, _stop!_" Starfire squealed shrilly. She started for him, but Beast Boy – in the form of a gorilla – got there first. He tore Robin off Raven and threw him across the room, where he slammed into the far wall and collapsed in a crumpled heap of wings, spines and once-human flesh. The demon boy did not get up again.

"Raven, you ok?" Cyborg asked frantically, pulling Raven to her feet. She put a hand to her head and shook it, clearing her still-aching mind.

"Yes, thankyou, Cyborg," she said quietly. "I'm fine."

They all looked across at Robin, lying unconscious at the foot of the wall. Starfire's hands and eyes were glowing, as were Terra's. Beast Boy regained his human form and shook his head.

"Man, I didn't want to do that," he said softly.

"You did the right thing, B," Cyborg reassured his friend, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You saved Ray. There's no doubt Robin would have hurt her, even _killed_ her, if you hadn't."

Beast Boy nodded slightly, still looking at Robin.

"Come on," Raven said shakily. "I'll heal him up when he's human again; the sooner we get him back to normal the better…"

The others nodded in agreement, even Terra; she was horrified by what she had just seen, by what Robin had become. She truly _wanted_ to help…

Cyborg retrieved Robin, carrying him back over to the altar and lying him down flat on his back, his wings spread out beneath him. A bruise at the unconscious boy's left temple was already starting to form itself.

"This should be a heckuva lot easier," the half-robot acknowledged. "Star, if you want to give him the blood baptism, we'll get this show on the road."

Starfire nodded, dipped her fingers into the urn again, and smeared some of the crimson liquid across Robin's forehead; he didn't so much as twitch. She picked up the urn and rejoined the others at the pentagram, handing it back to Raven. Raven took it and poured the rest of the blood over the birdarang, smearing it evenly over the light metal weapon and placing it in the middle of the chalk star. She wiped her hands on her cloak and extended them both out to Cyborg to her left and Beast Boy to her right. The five of them all linked hands and Raven closed her eyes for a few seconds, centering herself.

Her eyes opened again, glowing white, and she breathed her mantra.

"Azarath. Metrion. _Zinthos_…"

As she spoke it a strange kind of breeze went through the entire room, flickering the flames of the torches, making Starfire and Terra's long hair ripple slightly. She started to speak the enchantment, her voice hushed, the language alien to the others around her. The soft breeze seemed to blow itself into some kind of tornado around them, Starfire and Terra's hair lifting right up as though they were sitting on an air vent. In the centre of the star the blood-smeared birdarang began to pulse with some kind of energy, almost magnetic in the way it was quivering slightly, glowing a little with a light similar to the one blazing in Raven's eyes.

"It is working," Starfire whispered excitedly to Terra, who was next to her, clutching the alien girl's hand. Terra nodded as Raven continued to chant in Azarathian.

Over on the altar Robin stirred, his eyes snapping open behind his mask. He sat up abruptly, his hand going to his bruised temple, his wings spreading out. He sat there for a moment or two, his muscular chest heaving as he breathed. Then he slowly turned his head, his eyes narrowed venomously as he watched the charade on the floor in front of the altar. The pentagram was glowing, as was the birdarang, the breeze now so strong it blew his hair too.

He didn't like it.

Because, somehow, he knew what they were doing.

Starfire got the feeling she was being watched; she looked over her shoulder, still holding Cyborg and Terra's hands. She gasped as she saw Robin sitting up, his masked eyes fixed on her. His tail was flicking and the blood on his forehead was running down into his left eye. She simply returned his gaze, hoping it would transfix him long enough for Raven to finish the spell.

No such luck.

He came onto his hands and knees and started to crawl across the altar, his breathing taxed for some reason, his eyes narrowed but his face otherwise impassive. His tail swung to and fro with every movement, his wings lying open and being dragged along the stone altar.

Terra, Cyborg and Beast Boy were all watching him now too, their faces horrified. If Robin wrecked the spell before Raven got a chance to finish it…

He curled up, coiled like a spring, looking past them all straight at Raven…

"Robin, _NO!_" Cyborg shouted.

Raven continued to chant as Starfire cried something in shrill Tamaranean along the same lines as Cyborg's order.

Robin didn't even look at either of them, his sights still set on Raven. His shoulders flexed as he prepared to spring, his wings rustled…

…Raven continued the spell, her words becoming louder and faster…

Robin pounced.

Starfire screamed.

"Don't break the circle!" Cyborg yelled.

"What do we do?" Beast Boy screeched.

In answer to his hysterical statement, a thick snake of rock burst from beneath the floor of the chamber, moving with the ease of a ribbon in the wind. It wrapped around Robin, catching him in mid-air, and tightened. One wing was crushed to his body, the other free and flapping wildly; similarly one arm was pinned to his side, the other only jammed at the upper arm, allowing him to scratch and claw at the band of rock around him. He hissed and screeched and spat, his tail lashing dangerously, but was unable to move.

Starfire, Beast Boy and Cyborg all looked at Terra; her eyes were glowing gold, her gaze fixed on the captured Robin.

Raven cried the last word of the spell and the tornado reached a crescendo as light burst from the bloody birdarang. Secured in the rock, Robin continued to writhe and struggle, but now the movement seemed to be more in pain than trying to get free. His eyes were squeezed shut behind his mask, his head was bowed and he was crying and grunting in pain as he struggled. Light started to glow around his whole form and his cries became unrelentless screaming, each one sounding less animalistic. The light completely surrounded him for a few seconds, the only sign that he was there at all his screams, now sounding in his own voice, and then it faded as something tore from his chest and rose upwards into the air. It was a deep red, concocted from some kind of liquid-like swirling mist. It had some kind of shape to it, a demonic one, and the wings and tail were visible jutting out from the rapidly diffusing demonic body. It floated there for a few seconds, then lost its shape altogether as it was drawn towards the birdarang. It exploded into the glowing weapon and the light went out.

Raven stood, breaking the ring.

"Starfire, destroy it!" She commanded.

Starfire rose too, her eyes glowing as she powered up. She put her hands together and ripped a powerful starbolt into the weapon, blasting it to bits.

The wind died as the smoke cleared, and then the Tamaranean girl, the shape-shifter, the half-robot, the telekinetic and the earth-mover stood in the silence, the slightly faded pentagram beneath them.

"WE DID IT!" Cyborg shouted in victory, the first to break the silence.

"Go Raven, go Raven!" Beast Boy whooped, dancing like a cheerleader.

Raven smiled faintly and looked around at them all.

"Yes, we did it," she said, her smile broadening. "We saved him. Well done, everyone."

She turned her gaze to Terra.

"And particularly to you, Terra," she went on softly. "You stopped him when no-one else could."

Terra smiled and blushed.

"Just glad I could help."

"And you _did!_" Beast Boy cried, throwing his arms around her.

Cyborg and Raven exchanged looked, shaking their heads.

"What about Robin?" Starfire inquired imploringly, looking at the Boy Wonder. The stone pillar was still wrapped around and he was limp in its grip, seemingly unconscious. He was perfectly normal again, and indeed he looked suddenly strange for it, as they had grown used to his wings.

His skin was pale again, he was much smaller in build, his wings and tail were non-existent, his ridges and spines were gone…

He was truly Robin again.

"Oh, yeah," Terra murmured. Her eyes glowed amber and the rock released its grip on him.

Starfire soared forwards as he fell and caught him, hugging him tightly, her eyes squeezed shut happily.

"Oh, Robin, you are normal again!" She cried happily. She started to laugh in her glee, but it trailed off as she felt his lack of movement in her grip.

"Robin?" She looked down at him, shook him, but he didn't do anything. His eyes were open, he was awake, but he was not responding.

Starfire sank back onto the altar and set Robin down; he simply collapsed as though he was a doll.

"_Robin!_" Starfire cried. She pulled him up again and he simply gazed blankly at her. She shook him and he didn't resist.

"What's up with him?" Terra asked as she, Raven, Beast Boy and Cyborg came over to the altar, confused by Robin's behaviour.

"I do not know!" Starfire wailed, shaking him harder. "Robin, you must not play these silly games! We are worried about you!"

Nothing.

"Dude, let me," Beast Boy said. He pushed Starfire aside and took hold of Robin's wrists. He physically pulled the Boy Wonder to his feet and held him there for a few seconds.

"There," Beast Boy said smugly, letting him go. Robin immediately collapsed again, and lay there on the cold stone floor like a puppet cast aside in frustration.

"Raven, what is wrong with him?" Starfire cried, turning her gaze on the telekinetic.

Raven felt her stomach sink; she had this horrible feeling…

She bent down and hauled Robin to his feet, then sat him down on the edge of the altar; Starfire caught his shoulders to stop him from collapsing. She reached out and took off his mask, handing it to Starfire and baring his incredible deep blue eyes.

"_Wow_," Beast Boy murmured.

"Jeez, those eyes should be on _Vogue_," Cyborg muttered. "Or at least on a contact lenses advertisement."

"_Blue_," was all Terra could contribute.

But as brilliant and blue as they were, there was no expression in them. Raven waved her hand in front of his face but his eyes did not follow the movement; he simply gazed blankly at her, his eyes glassy. He blinked only once or twice, very slowly.

"Jeez, is he dead?" Beast Boy asked, slightly miffed.

"He's _breathing_, idiot," Cyborg pointed out witheringly. "And blinking."

"Yeah, but he's not doing much else," Beast Boy replied.

"Robin."

Raven snapped her fingers in front of Robin's face. He blinked in a reflex action but didn't offer anything else.

"Oh, he is even _worse_ now!" Starfire wailed, upset. "He is not even responding!"

"Yeah, I know…"

Raven bit her lip as she took back Robin's mask and put it back over his eyes. Then she put two fingers to each of Robin's temples; he didn't even wince when she applied pressure to his bruise.

"Raven, what are you doing?" Starfire inquired.

"Ssh, Starfire."

Raven closed her eyes and concentrated. She felt… nothing. He wasn't thinking; his mind was completely empty. And… she could not sense his soul. There was nothing there, just as Seth had warned her. He was nothing more than an empty shell, simply Robin's body – without the Robin part.

"No soul," Raven said quietly, opening her eyes and removing her fingers from his temples. "There's… just nothing there. I know it sounds stupid…"

"So he's utterly brainless?" Cyborg asked bluntly. "_Great_…"

"Not _brainless_, Cyborg," Raven corrected heavily. "His brain is still _there_… he just can't use it. He can't _think_, if you get me."

"But Raven, that doesn't make any sense," Beast Boy put in. "If his brain is still there, why can't he think?"

"Because…" Raven sighed. "Look, I don't know exactly how this stuff works. Basically, this is only Robin's _body_; when his soul was destroyed his mind was taken with it. He can't talk, he can't think, he can't _move_…"

"But why _not?_" Cyborg demanded. "I mean, I know about how the brain connects to all the different muscles and bodily functions and stuff; if his brain is still there he should at least be able to _move_, even if he can't do anything else…"

Raven shook her head.

"Movement requires thought; his brain needs to send a message along his nervous system to his muscles to make him move. If he can't think, he can't move."

"But how can he still blink and breathe?" Beast Boy asked sceptically.

"Because those are reflex actions; movements that he does not need to think about because his body does them automatically," Cyborg explained, catching onto Raven's verdict. "Otherwise…"

"…He's obsolete," Raven finished in a hushed voice.

"So… we didn't really save him after all?" Terra stated rather than asked, her voice soft.

Raven felt tears of both sadness and frustration leak from her eyes, glad her hood's shadow hid them from the others.

"No, we didn't…"

Her voice caught and she had to turn away. He was not dangerous anymore, true; trouble was, he was not _anything_ anymore.

She looked back again and saw that he was slumped against Starfire, his head resting on her shoulder. Her arms were wrapped firmly around him, holding him tightly to her, and she was crying bitterly into his dark hair.

The others – Terra, Cyborg and Beast Boy – was just standing there, as though in total shock. Terra had an arm around Beast Boy but they were both watching Robin; Cyborg was gazing at the floor.

Seth had been right after all. Robin's soul had been destroyed in the process… and now there was nothing left. What were they going to do with him now? He would have to be fed using a drip or syringe, he would basically just… be some kind of ornament. The only thing he could do was… sit – no, not even _sit_ – _lie_ there, on the couch or something. It was a terrible thing to even think, but he was _useless_. He wasn't even injured or anything, he was just… an empty shell.

Raven walked away from the altar, drawn to the darkest corner of the chamber. She just wanted to be alone…

"Hey, look what I found!"

Raven whipped around; there, leaning against the doorframe of the chamber, was Seth Elliott. He was grinning, smoking a cigarette; in his other hand appeared to be something that was glowing slightly, but she could not make out what it was.

"_Seth_," she breathed.

He winked one of his brilliant green eyes at her.

"Must say, good work on the exorcism spell," he congratulated her. "You got the thing out of him."

They were all just staring wordlessly at him and he noticed their gobsmacked gazes.

"Seth Elliott, Head of the Azarathian Senate," he introduced himself flippantly, sweeping into an overly-dramatic bow. He straightened up again and dragged on his cigarette. "Yeah, like I was saying, Ms Roth; great spell-casting there. That was the _one_ spell I didn't try."

Raven eyed him skeptically.

"How convenient."

"Actually, I thought it was rather _in_convenient," Seth countered blandly. "It was just that I couldn't find the book. But now I know where it went."

"Jonathon gave it to me," Raven told him, waiting for his reaction.

He merely raised his eyebrows.

"Stealing my books, is he? I never _did_ trust him…"

_The feeling is mutual there, I can assure you…_ Raven thought flatly

"Well, never mind. I guess he gave it to the right person…"

Raven frowned; Seth really _was_ being extremely flippant about this whole matter…

"What did you find?" She asked icily. "Us down here doing exactly what you told us _not_ to?"

Seth smiled, taking another puff of his cigarette.

"Well, that too, but _nope_," he said brightly, sounding extremely pleased with himself. He held up the thing clutched in his right hand; it was a very pale red colour, glowing, and appeared to be made of some kind of gas, although Seth was holding onto it with no problem whatsoever.

"What _is_ it?" Raven queried stingingly.

Seth lowered his hand, his lips pursed in obvious irritation.

"It's his _soul_," he informed her expressionlessly.

Raven's stomach did some kind of weird acrobatic and she felt sick as she heard the words leave his lips.

"His… _soul?_..." She whispered, barely daring to believe it. "But… it was _destroyed_… _Look at him!_"

She pointed wildly at the inanimate Robin; Starfire was still holding him, but was looking up, her face streaked with tears.

"Not _destroyed_," Seth said with a smile. "It fled his body when the demon took over him, to _avoid_ being destroyed. It's been floating around for hours, I should think… I just caught it a few minutes ago."

He held it up again and they all stared at it; it was squirming in his grip, trying to get free.

"Dude, that's _really_ his _soul?_" Beast Boy whispered in an awed voice.

Seth nodded, grinning broadly.

"Then put it back into him!" Starfire burst out from the altar.

Seth turned his gaze on her, his eyebrows raised in amusement. Starfire glared back at him defiantly, her chin raised.

"Yeah, quit fooling around!" Terra added suddenly. "Give him his soul back!"

"Jeez, the way you're all going on, I'm getting the idea you all think _I_ took it out of him in the first place!" Seth said, his grin simply broadening. "Ok, let's give the kid back what's rightfully his…"

He opened his hand and the glowing red wisp – Robin's soul, according to Seth – shot from his hand, soaring like an arrow across the chamber straight at Robin. It slammed right into his chest with more force than seemed possible for something that looked so fragile; there was a spark like a backfiring firework and Robin was thrown backwards from Starfire's grip against the stone altar. Starfire shrieked and jumped backwards as Robin suddenly came to life, writhing on the altar, curling up, his hands at his temples, and then spreading out and grasping at his chest.

"What did you _do_ to him?" Raven shrieked furiously. "As if he hasn't been through _enough!_"

"I didn't do _anything_ to him," Seth said blandly. "He's fine…"

No sooner had Seth said it than Robin stopped his thrashing around like a fish and lay perfectly still.

"There," Seth said softly, a tiny smile on his face, his cigarette halfway to his mouth. "All better."

"He's not _moving_," Raven pointed out, really losing her patience.

"That's because he's _unconscious_." Seth stated the obvious too, his voice even flatter than hers. "He'll be fine in the morning.

One of you take him up to his room and put him in bed. He'll wake up good as new, you have my word."

They all just stared at him speechlessly.

"Come on, _one_ of you make yourselves useful," Seth said irritably, clapping his hands together.

Cyborg jumped and made his way quickly over to the altar, where he and Starfire immediately started to give Robin a sceptical once-over. Terra and Beast Boy edged in that direction too; in truth, they were all freaked out by this long-haired, black-robed, cowboy-booted, soul-snatching… _weirdo_.

All of them except Raven.

"He'll _definitely_ be ok?" She asked, her voice hushed.

Seth smiled at her.

"Of _course_ he will. You _doubt_ me?"

Raven shook her head.

"It's not that… I just…" She trailed off and looked up at him. "No. I don't."

"Good girl." He dragged thoughtfully on his cigarette. "Of course, why would you have any _reason_ to doubt me, hmm?"

He looked sideways at her and she caught his amused gaze before averting her own to the stone floor.

_Bastard_… what _didn't_ this guy know?...

"Jonathon." Seth was positively grinning now.

Raven looked up sharply at him again, and again she began to grow wary of him. There was just something about him that she didn't trust; or maybe she should just stop hanging around with Robin, paranoid junior detective that he was…

"Are you afraid of me, Raven?" He asked, as though reading her mind; maybe he was…

She shook her head wordlessly, her violet eyes locked on his emerald ones.

He smiled and dragged on his cigarette, then reached out and gently pulled down her hood.

"Why not? Let's face it, I'm a… very strange person, am I not?"

"Well…" She trailed off and shrugged hopelessly, unsure of what answer he was expecting, or indeed, what answer he wanted to _hear_.

"Of course I am," he said cheerfully, dismissing her lack of answer. "But it would seem that in this instance… the strangest people are the best for the job. Right?"

He watched her intently, noting her every movement, down to the tiniest flicker of her long thick eyelashes.

"I guess so," she replied flatly.

"I know what Jonathon was telling you," Seth mused, looking up at the smoke patterns issuing from his cigarette.

"Where do you get those things?" Raven asked, trying to distract him.

"Earth." Seth looked long and hard at her, not falling for it. "Nice try, Roth. Don't worry, I don't care. I know they probably all talk about me, even Marcus. It's just that Jonathon isn't very good at hiding it."

"They're just _worried_," Raven chided him.

"But I'm one of the _good_ guys," Seth said idly.

"Yes, I know, and _they_ know that too, but…" Raven sighed in frustration. "It's just about the Orb of Azarath. You haven't… well, you haven't exactly…"

"Tried to get it back?" Seth finished for her, a smirk on his face. "Yeah, I must look into that…"

"Well, that's just it!" Raven burst out. "You don't seem to think that it's all that important. Of _course_ they're worried. _I'm_ worried!"

Seth breathed out a cloud of smoke languidly.

"That damn prophecy…"

"Well, the whole reason Robin was _in_ this state was _because_ of the prophecy!" Raven cried, exasperated. "And I know he's the Avenger and everything, but… he can't do this on his own; he can't _stop_ it on his own, Seth!"

Raven stopped to draw breath, gazing intently up at Seth, who in turn just looked back at her, barely blinking.

"I don't know what you think he _is_," Raven pressed, her voice losing its hysterical edge to become almost desperate. "He's only _human_, he doesn't even have any powers… And the last time he faced Slade, he almost got _killed_. If he's no match for Slade himself, who is _also_ powerless, how do you expect him to stop an _apocalypse?_"

Seth blinked once, still silent.

"Is this some kind of _game_ to you, Seth?" Raven whispered. "Are you trying to see how far Robin can get on his own before you step in? Or before Robin gets killed…"

Seth seemed surprised now.

"Why the hell would I do that?"

"Oh, I don't _know!_" Raven snapped. "Maybe because it would be… I don't know, _amusing_ to you or something…"

"At the risk of the Earth?"

"Well, that's what confuses me," Raven sighed. "I know you're not a bad guy, Seth… I just… can't understand why you don't just go and get the orb back. You're certainly powerful enough."

Seth looked at her for a very long time, then stubbed out his cigarette into the flesh of his palm. Raven smelt his flesh burning as the cigarette extinguished, but Seth didn't even flinch, and when he removed it and flicked it over his shoulder to the stone floor, there was no burn mark. Raven looked from his palm to his face and then back again; he smiled lazily at her.

"I'm not your little friend Robin, Raven," he reminded her languidly. "I'm not human."

He was trying to freak her out, she realised - Seth was like that. And it had worked before, true… but not this time. As she remembered stating to Beast Boy, she didn't do fear. Instead she stared icily back at the senator, standing her ground.

"Raven, it's not that simple," he said finally. "I wish it _was_, but I can't just track down this Slade guy and take back the orb."

"And why _not?_" Raven demanded. "That's what you _need_ to do, before it's too late."

"It doesn't work like that, Raven," Seth sighed, running a hand through his mane of long ebony hair.

"_What_ doesn't work like that?" Raven asked in exasperation.

"Just… the law of things. Look, I know I couldn't expect you to understand… Just… _trust_ me, ok?"

Raven eyed him sceptically.

"Trust you to do _what?_" She barbed. "Save the world? Or does that still rest on Robin's shoulders?"

"_He's_ the Avenger, isn't he?"

"Yes, and now he's just back to Square One," Raven sighed. "Don't you get it? We haven't gotten _anywhere_; _none_ of us."

"Raven, I'll _look_ _into_ it," Seth said heavily. "I can't do anything _else_."

Raven snorted and turned away.

"_Sure_…"

She averted her eyes from Seth and found Cyborg in front of her.

"Ray, can we borrow your cloak?" He asked, rubbing the back of his neck as though he was embarrassed. "It's just… that sash thing 'round his waist… Star, she… and we, y'know, need some to wrap him in to take him back to his room…"

"Are you and Starfire going?" Raven asked unexpressionately, unfastening her cloak and looking beyond Cyborg as she did so; Starfire, for some strange reason Raven wasn't even going to pursue, had the red sash that had been at Robin's waist, which of course meant that said unconscious Boy Wonder was…

"Here," Raven said irritably, tossing her cloak at Cyborg. "Just cover him up and get him out of here."

Cyborg snatched the cloak from mid-air, making his way back over to the altar even as he did so, a nod of thanks in Raven's direction.

"Heart-warming, isn't it?" Seth murmured, coming up behind her as she watched the charade on the altar, involving a scuffle between Cyborg and Starfire about who carried Robin back upstairs.

"Sickening," Raven deadpanned.

"Well, that too," Seth agreed with a shrug. "Poor Raven; destined to be the deadbeat forevermore, huh?"

"I don't see what concern it is of yours," Raven said icily.

Seth clicked his tongue in exaggerated annoyance and put his hands on Raven's shoulders. She tried to shrug him off but he didn't remove them.

"Are you sulking with me, my little birdie?" Seth crooned, just the smallest trace of sarcasm evident in his smooth voice.

"_Don't_." Raven attempted to shrug him off again; without her cloak she felt strangely vulnerable.

"Oh, come on, Raven," Seth wheedled. "Don't be mad at me. I said I'll fix it, ok?"

"No, you said you'd _look into_ _it_," Raven reminded him coldly, staring stonily ahead.

"Same dif."

"No it isn't."

Seth sighed heavily, turning Raven around to face him. She wouldn't look at him.

"Look at me, Raven."

"No."

He caught her chin and made her look him straight in the face.

"Don't sulk with your old pal Seth now," the senator said levelly, his green eyes boring into her purple ones. "Tell me, Raven; have I ever let you down before? Have I ever not come through for you?"

"Yes," Raven reminded him snippily. "You failed to get the demon out of Robin before it took over him."

Seth grinned sheepishly.

"Well, apart from that slip-up…"

"_It wasn't a slip-up!_" Raven snapped. "If you hadn't found his soul…"

"He'd be screwed." Seth sighed heavily, stroking the side of her face. "Look, I've promised you it will be ok, and it _will_."

She looked into his eyes… and frowned.

He wasn't looking at her face anymore. And though she was dressed only in her tight black leotard, he wasn't looking at her breasts or legs either.

He was looking at her stomach.

And he was smiling.

She snapped her fingers in front of his nose.

"Seth, my _face_," she reminded him, pointing upwards.

Seth blinked and looked up, his smile eradicated by the surprised expression that had taken its place.

"Hmm?"

"What were you looking at?" Raven probed, her eyes narrowed.

"I'm amazed at how you stay so thin when all you do is scarf pizza and ice-cream," Seth replied nonchalantly.

Raven raised an eyebrow.

"_Really_."

"Uh-huh. The strangest things fascinate me, Raven."

"I'm sure they do."

She reached up and removed his hands from her shoulders, losing her trust in him again. He didn't seem too perplexed and moved away with a shrug.

"Alright, I'm weird…"

"Yes, you are." Raven kept her narrowed gaze on him.

"Ray, we're just taking this guy upstairs."

Cyborg.

Raven turned to find Cyborg standing behind her, Robin – wrapped shoddily in Raven's purple cloak – in his huge metal arms and a sulky-looking Starfire flanking him; the alien girl was still clutching the red silk sash grim-death. Raven's gaze moved to it briefly, but refrained from commenting, not sure she wanted to hear the motive behind the madness.

"Ok," she replied blandly.

Cyborg grinned at her, nodded at Seth and left the chamber, Starfire following muttering under her breath in Tamaranean.

"Odd friends you have," Seth murmured.

"No odder than _you_," Raven replied flatly.

Seth shrugged.

"Touché."

He put his arms around her from behind and rested his chin on the top of her head.

"Get off me," Raven said icily.

"Don't sulk, Ray." He grinned. "Can I call you Ray?"

"No."

"_He_ did," Seth pointed out, implying Cyborg.

"He's my friend."

"And _I'm_ not?" Seth sounded genuinely hurt.

"You're more of an acquaintance."

"Gee, thanks…"

Seth removed his arms and sighed.

"Well, I'd better get going," he said airily. "Orb to track down an' all."

"Right." Raven turned to face him, her face impassive.

Seth smiled at her in the flickering light.

"You're very beautiful, you know, Raven," he said softly, his eyes first on the red jewel on her ashma chakra, then meeting her amethyst ones.

"Right," Raven repeated, her tone and her face still expressionless.

Seth sighed again.

"There's no getting through to you, is there, Ms Roth?"

"No."

_Least of all by you… _

"Well, hang tight, kid," Seth went on breezily, as though she hadn't even spoken. "I'll make some kind of contact with you if anything comes up."

"Alright."

Seth hesitated, as though he wanted to say something else, but instead drew her into a tight hug, which somewhat surprised her.

"Everything'll be ok, _I_ _promise_," he whispered in her ear.

She nodded as he drew back and smiled at her. Then… she swore he looked very quickly at her stomach again… and _smirked_…

Then he turned on his heel and swept from the chamber as dramatically as possible with an audience of so few.

She unconsciously put a hand to her stomach as she watched him go. _Why_ did he keep looking at it? Something told her it was more than a fascination with metabolism rates…

"Raven!"

Beast Boy's voice calling her name from across the chamber snapped her back from her uneasy chain of thoughts and she turned towards the altar to find Beast Boy and Terra standing side by side, their gazes on her.

She approached, again feeling strange without her long cloak; she noticed that Terra was giving her a girl-to-girl once-over assessment. Ignoring the earth-mover, she turned her attention to Beast Boy.

"Yeah?"

"We gotta take Terra back to Earth," Beast Boy; Raven noticed that both his expression and his voice seemed disheartened.

"She's not staying with us, then?" Raven asked coolly.

"Well, we were _talking_ about it," Beast Boy sighed. "But…"

"Slade."

Raven's one word said it all.

"It's pitiful, Terra," she went on icily.

"I can't betray him," Terra whispered.

"You already have," Raven reminded her.

"I know. And I can't do it again." Terra looked at the empath, her blue eyes wide. "I know you don't understand…"

"No," Raven corrected, "I don't _care_…"

"Raven!" Beast Boy snapped.

Raven shrugged and turned away, beginning her chant to open the portal.

"Terra, you can't go back to him," Beast Boy said for the umpteenth time, his voice pleading.

"Beast Boy, don't start this again," Terra said softly. "I _have_ to. I've _told_ you that."

"Yeah, but I don't _believe_ it," Beast Boy replied. "Terra, you're a _good_ person. You just helped Robin!"

"B.B, I'm _not_ good. I helped _put_ that demon in him in the first place. I _need_ Slade, he helps me to control my powers…"

"Terra, please don't do this," Beast Boy begged. "You don't belong with Slade."

"Yes I do. I know it's awful, and I know he's evil, but he… he _understands_ me. He _helped_ me. The only reason you don't get it is because you see him as the enemy."

"He _is_ the enemy!" Beast Boy burst out. "Terra, he's done terrible things, and he'll do worse if you help him to succeed the prophecy."

"No, Beast Boy," Terra whispered. "_I'll_ do worse if I don't keep my powers in check. Only _he_ can do that."

"Terra…"

"Beast Boy, don't… I wish it _wasn't_ this way, but it _is_, and I can't help it."

"Yes, you _can_," Beast Boy argued. "He's corrupting you! You're his apprentice and he's going to make you as evil and twisted as _he_ is! Haven't you ever seen _Revenge of the Sith_?"

"Beast Boy, I have no place with you," Terra said stiffly, ignoring his _Star Wars_ reference. "You know that. I'm not like you, I never _have_ been…"

"You could have been, though, Terra…"

Terra didn't answer.

"Terra, come on," Raven said over her shoulder from behind them. "The portal is ready…"

Terra nodded and stepped past Beast Boy towards the portal.

"Terra, _please_," Beast Boy pleaded. "We need you…"

"No you don't, especially not now you have Robin back…"

"Terra, I…"

Beast Boy floundered as she walked away from him, closer and closer to Slade, her destiny…

"Terra, I _love_ you…"

He approached her as she stopped and turned to face him. She gazed at him for a few seconds, smiled a little… and kissed him deeply and passionately, as she had done to Robin. Only this time it was the real thing…

She pulled back, her expression sad now.

"I love you too," she whispered.

She turned away and disappeared through the portal before Beast Boy could grab hold of her to stop her. Raven closed it quickly to stop him from following her, and it faded from existence just as he dived at it. He tumbled and came onto his feet, his arms empty.

"_Terra_," he whispered, his long pointed ears twitching.

Raven put her hand on his shoulder.

"It's over, Beast Boy…"

Beast Boy looked at his grey-gloved hands.

"She kissed me…"

"I know…"

Raven sighed, wishing for the millionth time that she and Robin had been wrong in the first place about Terra. But Robin was smart, a detective; he saw through people. And Raven herself? She just _knew_, right from the start, that Terra was not all she seemed. But now, for Beast Boy's sake, she wished that she and Sherlock Junior had been wrong.

"Come on, Beast Boy," she sighed. "Let's get some sleep. And tomorrow we're going home."

Beast Boy nodded wordlessly, following Raven to the doorway of the stone chamber. She stopped, looking across at the stone altar, still with the burnt-through leather cord attached to the iron rung.

She smiled.

Robin was ok, and that was what mattered.

"Raven?"

She turned to look at Beast Boy as he spoke her name.

"Yeah?"

Beast Boy eyed her skeptically.

"Where exactly did you open that portal to?" He asked suspiciously.

Raven actually allowed herself a brief smirk as she turned to leave once again.

" Gotham City Central…"

* * *

Ah, _Revenge of the Sith_… Well, this chapter was written around June last year, when _Star Wars Episode III_ was at the peak of its popularity. I wouldn't go so far as to declare myself a huge _Star Wars_ fan, but I _loved_ that film. Still do; but for a brief while I suppose I was something of a _Star Wars_ fangirl. It was short-lived, although the stunning Anakin Skywalker poster I bought has managed to survive my reversion back into being a _Teen Titans_ fangirl and is still proudly up on my wall. I love Anakin; but Darth Vader was always my favourite anyway, from _waaay_ back when I was little and saw the originals. It didn't have _much_ to do with Hayden Christensen… 

Anyway, be on the lookout for a few more little _Star Wars_ references that will probably pop up. Ironically, after seeing _Revenge of the Sith_ (a few times…), I _did_ realise how much like Anakin Skywalker _Terra_ is. Think about it; both are seen to be, at the start, a good, powerful, yet somewhat naïve person seduced and corrupted by darkness in return for something they desperately want, in Terra's case control over her powers, and in Anakin's a way to save his wife Padmé.

Oh dear. I suppose that makes Anakin kinda Mary Sue-ish. _Shh_, don't tell George Lucas… Because I suppose Terra _is_ a bit of a Mary Sue – but I really like her even so.

So be it if I am the only one.

Next chapter: Robin is himself again. I mean _really_ himself. Without wings; and back to coming up with conspiracy theories. Should be fun… BTW, any speculations about Raven? Any at all?

Once again, happy birthday (today, 19th July) to **Poison's Ivy**, formerly **Ravenrogue19**!

- RobinRocks xXx


	30. Diamonds and Blood

Oh yes, you read that review count right! 300, people! **300**! _Thankyou all **so** much_, every _single_ person who has _ever_ reviewed, even the flamers! I don't just count that as a victory for me – everyone who reads/reviews, we are all in this together. Because if no-one read, then I would have no reviews at all, so… TOGETHER, WE'VE HIT THE BIG THREE-DOUBLE-OH! _Whooooo_!

Okay, before I start with my gushing thankyou essay, let me clarify a few things on the "pregnancy front". There's no point in me denying it, because everyone has guessed – I admit I laid it on pretty thick.

Yes, Raven is pregnant. That is all I am saying on the matter – apart from to ease your worries about this turning into a stupid RobinxRaven "OMG-we've-conceived-by-accident-never-mind-it'll-all-work-out-anyway" fic. She's pregnant. Robin has another worry on his shoulders and believe me, when he finds out, he's not gonna be happy. I have read too many RobinxRaven pregnancy fics where Robin is _way_ too accepting… He's pretty much like "Oh, well, never mind…" instead of "What? You're _pregnant_? _NOW_ what do we do?". To be perfectly honest, I can't see Robin accepting something that huge and life-changing so easily, so either _I_ have him out-of-character, or everyone _else_ has…

Secondly… you may have stumbled across a new little fic of mine – only one chapter so far – called _Monsters in the Closet_. Basically, it's mpreg, with Robin as my victim (who else?) and with a little sci-fi twist, and Professor Chang is in there too. I know some of you have read it – this note isn't to plug it. I am just actually admitting that I picked a bad time to start putting up _Monsters in the Closet_, because now it is running parallel to this part of _Black Magic_. If you are reading that too, or plan to, please don't start comparing it to this. _Monsters in the Closet_ is just… dumb, really. This is the better fic, and the pregnancy factor is a lot more important, so… just warning you about that, and apologising for the sudden inundation of pregnancy in my fics…

Onto the thankyous – just skip through them if you're that desperate to get to the fic, as they have a different format this time…

**AzarathGirl **– Wise words from your friend – if his name is Seth, don't trust him. You aren't the only one to mention that…

**Quinn and His Quill **– Ah, firstly you surprise me with your reading of _Monsters in the Closet_, but thankyou very much for the review. If you continue, I hope you enjoy it. At least it isn't slash… Secondly, although that is an extremely perceptive speculation about the child's possible use as the key for the Orb of Azarath, I am going to shoot you down and tell you otherwise. I am most impressed, however… :) Thirdly, Robin having a red soul: check out _Switched_ and _Revolution_. Robin's soul is red; each Titan has a different colour. Fourth: Anakin Skywalker _rules_! And fifth; don't start with me, Sombrero Man…

**CrazyInsomniac – **Aha, "Dummy" has been revealed… Jonathon and Arella? You will just have to wait and see…

**Rocky-White Wolf of Curses **– Thanks for the review on _Monsters_. Also, here is more, and if you're _very_ good, you _might_ get an update next Monday… ;)

**RavenandRobin4ever **– Glad you liked it!

**Poison's Ivy **– Yikes, longest review _ever_… I am glad you liked your "present" and some of your theories are very interesting indeed. As for Seth lying through his teeth… well, yeah, obviously… Star is a bit dumb sometimes, we all know that (although I love her anyway) and Raven smeared blood on the birdarang to draw the demon into it so that Starfire could destroy it. I thought Raven was very OOC in _Deep Six_ too… I think that is all for now, "Sherlock Junior"…

**Me **– The necklace? It's in there somewhere… And yeah, Raven's dreams are important…

**Azar the Kinslayer **– Cool pen-name… :) Do you mean you read all of this in one go? Well, here is your next chapter, anyhow… As for Terra; well, as much as I love her, she betrayed them to their enemy, so there is only so much you can do with her…

**Narroch06** – Yes, your "theories" on Tuxedo Guy… I do wonder whether you are right… As for Seth, he'll be put in the spotlight soon enough, and you'll find out whether he is truly good or bad… "When there's trouble you know who to call… _Ghostbusters_!". Somehow it just doesn't have the same ring to it… _Monsters in the Closet_? Glad I have corrupted you... :)

**TheLon3Wolf8986 **– Will Robin remember anything? Find out below, my friend…

**Apocalyptic Omens **– As above, do not fret! This isn't a stupid "Robin-and-Raven-have-a-bouncing-bundle-of-joy" fic! Glad you like Terra too; Robin-bashers amuse me, but Terra-bashers piss me off… she was a deliberately-flawed character, so it irritates me when people pick holes in her. She was never meant to be perfect. Jonathon? He's around…somewhere…

**Seductive Angel **– Another one skeptic of Seth "catching Robin's soul a few moments ago"… Guess I'm never going to be Agatha Christie… Hmm, you _like_ Seth, don't you? Uh, yeah… does Robin _know_ you're having his child? And yeah, BB finally got some action with Terra… one of the greatest _TT_ pairings ever, I think – they were so perfect together…

**Coolteenzz **– Glad you are becoming a BBxTerra fan. As above, it's one of my very favourite pairings… As for Seth; yup, he's a pain in the ass… And this fic _prevents_ you from having weird dreams? I would have thought it would _cause_ them…

**LoopyLouise123 – **Yes, what of Jonathon indeed? And yeah, Robin needs a break from being all possessed and frothing-at-the-mouth and such-like…

**Dea Isis** – Your guess is right, and thankyou for the praise:)

**Peace215 **– Don't worry about not reviewing! That massive one you just gave me more than made up for it! as for Seth; yes, he is pretty interested in Raven… or her child, at least. As for Terra… I always knew she was working for Slade, but that's because I read _The Judas Contract_ way before we ever got Season Two here in Britain. As soon as I saw her little blonde mane of hair I was like… "She's bad news, Titans. Didn't you read the 80s comics?". I still like her, though – the animated version is _much_ nicer than her comics counterpart. Oh, and your referring to Robin as a "giant furball" amused me!

And lastly, to **Thrillzone** – A.K.A: _The 300th reviewer_! I am glad you like Terra in my fic – she's pretty important, or will be later on, anyway… I'm afraid Raven _is_ pregnant, and yes, that means _more_ trouble for Robin… And thankyou also for the review on _Monsters in the Closet_!

Wow, that was long. Sorry.

Diamonds and Blood

Sunlight beamed through the open balcony, warm and bright as though the morning air itself was crafted of fine-spun gold. Robin opened his masked eyes and blinked a few times, at first unsure of quite where he was and, more to the point, how he had gotten there. He looked around at the all-too-familiar ornate bedroom and sighed, leaning his head back onto the pillow and feeling the morning sun on his face.

A dream.

It must have been. That whole thing with Seth Elliott knocking him out, stripping him and tying him up in a dungeon. What else could it have been? He could not remember anything after Seth had plunged his hand into his chest and…

Something made him put a hand to his chest, and he felt his blood run cold when his fingertips touched something hard, smooth, prism-cut diamond shaped…

His eyes wide, he stared down at the glittering Blood Diamond suspended from its silver chain hanging around his neck.

Ok, so he'd had a… somewhat _erotic_ dream in which he had… well, the sheets had gotten a bit wet, but moreover he had been wearing this very necklace in the dream. However, up until just now he had thought that the events following that morning had _also_ been a dream – swimming naked in the lake, getting kidnapped by Seth Elliott, the whole package – so therefore in the real world he couldn't _really_ be wearing the necklace, because where would he have acquired it from? So that meant…

_Wake up and smell the coffee, Batboy. It's real, so if we could **stop** with the cliché already…_

He shook his head and sat up.

And noticed how much lighter his torso felt; and _looked_, as a matter of fact. No more tiger stripes…

Looking behind him he saw… well, _nothing_. No wings…

His ecstasy was immediately overridden by the thought; "So where the hell did they _go?_".

Something had happened after he had somehow… _fainted_… and only that senator, Seth Elliott, could tell him what. Somehow he was cured of the demonic possession; he could _feel_ it. He really was just human again; for which, of course, he was grateful, but even so… Despite his creepy way of going about it, had Seth really saved him?

Or was there a lot more to it than that?...

The door opened and he shifted, sitting right up, and in that instant realising that he _still_ seemed to be naked beneath the red silk sheets…

_It's an omen, Grayson; a calling. Become a naturist…_

"Good morning," Raven greeted him, her voice pleasant but deadpan as always. She approached the huge bed, her purple cloak flowing behind her and a glass of some kind of juice in her hand. Her hood was down and she was smiling vaguely at him in mild amusement as she watched him curling up underneath the sheets right up against the ornate headboard. He was trying to get as far away as possible from her as _inconspicuously_ as possible; and failing.

And she knew why. Because of their intimate little ordeal two nights ago. Now, in broad daylight, he was embarrassed about it, and of his behaviour, and of… well, _everything_… Come to think of it, it made _her_ cringe a little too; come on, she had _actually_ _sucked_ _his_…

"Hey," he muttered, making sure the sheets were firmly at his waist.

Raven offered him the glass as she perched on the side of the bed a little way down from him. He frowned at it.

"It's fresh pineapple juice, not poison," she informed him witheringly. He took it gingerly and examined it, more interested in it than in _her_.

"Don't turn your nose up at it, rich boy; it's better than any of that crap you get in the good ol' US of A, whether it was served up by your butler or not."

"Alfred."

Raven blinked.

"Pardon?"

"He has a name; _Alfred_."

He was still examining the juice with exaggerated interest, looking like a teenaged king rather than a teenaged superhero, sitting there against the schmaltzy headboard draped in red silk, with his black hair all silky and shiny and his fancy necklace around his neck…

"Robin?"

Robin actually looked up this time, swilling the juice around the crystal glass.

"Yeah?"

"Where did you get that necklace?"

Robin blinked and looked down at it.

"Seth Elliott gave it to me. Why?"

"I just…" Raven frowned at it, the way it glittered against his pale chest strangely familiar to her… Yes, she had seen Seth wearing it before, she remembered. She looked up at Robin, who was watching her intently, his expression unreadable.

"I've seen him wearing it."

Robin nodded in confirmation.

"Yes, he had it around his neck."

"And he just gave it to you?"

Robin's brow creased into a frown.

"No… no, he _traded_ me… he wanted that little silver gear you gave me, and I mean he _really wanted it_, Raven…"

Raven blinked.

"And you traded him?"

"Yeah… I… I guess he kind of _tricked_ me, really…" Robin rubbed the back of his neck, which was starting to get very warm from the sunlight beaming onto it.

"Tricked you?" Raven repeated.

"Uh-huh. He just… well, he was like a _lawyer_. Just the way he sort of _said_ stuff, he kind of twisted what I was saying so that I got sort of confused and I just… traded it to him."

Raven nodded in understanding.

"Yes, that sounds just like Seth," she murmured darkly.

But still, why would Seth have wanted that gear? It was valueless; she had just found it someplace, she couldn't even remember where, it had been months ago… And why would he have wanted it so badly that he would have been prepared to swap his necklace? Raven knew that Seth loved that necklace, he was never without it, and she knew from the many, many times he had told her that it was called a "Blood Diamond", the only one of its kind.

"Well, you hold onto that," Raven decided eventually, looking up again. "There's something not adding up here…"

Robin nodded in agreement.

"Tell me something I _don't_ know…"

Raven raised her eyebrows.

"OK; you're no longer a hybrid."

Robin grinned and took a sip of his juice.

"I know that too, I'm afraid. But thanks anyway."

He lowered his glass again, his wide grin disappearing as she watched.

"What I _don't_ know," he admitted, serious again, "is _how_."

Raven smiled at him.

"Well, you can thank _us_ for that," she said lightly. "The Teen Titans save the day once again, and once again the so-called leader sleeps throughout the entire performance…"

Robin blinked and stared at her, not even correcting her that he _wasn't_ leader anymore as he had _quit_ and _why_ did everyone keep forgetting?…

"_You_ saved me?…" He repeated weakly.

"Exorcism spell," Rave informed him.

Robin put a hand to his head… and winced. There was a large, tender bruise on his left temple. What the heck had _that_ come from?…

"Raven," he said slowly, looking up at her. "I think you had better explain some stuff to me. Like, right _now_."

Raven blinked.

"Well, Seth came to see you, right?"

"Right."

"And… well, I don't know _what_ happened. The demon fully took over you; you were possessed all day yesterday, way into the early hours of this morning. Seth said that nothing could be done for you and that you would have to be destroyed, and your death sentence was to be carried out at dawn this morning. Only the other Titans and I were having none of it and Jonathon Vaughan gave me an exorcism spell that he said would work, only he never turned up so we ended up going back to Earth to find Terra, and to cut a long story short we got you back to normal."

She noted the absolutely incredulous expression on his face; his mouth had actually dropped open.

"Robin, don't you remember _any_ of it?" She asked in despair. "I know you weren't exactly _yourself_, but surely you must have _some_ kind of inkling as to what happened?"

Robin slowly shook his head, closing his mouth as he did so.

"Raven, I… I don't know what happened… I really don't."

"Marcus told me that Seth said you went fully-fledged demonic on him and he had to restrain you in the dungeon-"

"_What!_" Robin interrupted. "No I _didn't!_"

"Then what _happened_?" Raven pressed, leaning in closer to him.

"He tricked me," Robin spat, thoroughly pissed off at Seth now. "You know how I wasn't allowed any kind of indulgence?"

Raven looked away briefly.

"Oh, yeah…"

"Yes, I _know_… we'll talk about that after. Right now we have to get to the bottom of _this_."

Raven nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, well Seth used that indulgence craving against me to get me to eat this amazing hot fudge sundae he'd made, but he'd drugged it and the next thing I know I'm naked on a stone altar, tied up like some kind of sacrifice!"

"And you remember that?"

"Yes… And Seth was down there, and he was just…" Robin sighed and put his head in his hands. "Jeez, Raven, I don't know what the heck is going on here. He knew everything about me, my birthday, my age, my parent's names, about Bruce… that my name is "Richard"…"

"Your name is Richard?" The surprise was evident in Raven's voice.

Robin looked up at her from his hands.

"Of _course_ it is," he said blandly. "You think my parents baptised me "Dick"?"

Raven wrinkled her nose.

"Isn't "Dick" kind of out of vogue, Mr Grayson?"

"Mom was really into that whole 40s scene, and "Dick" was a really popular name in the 30s and 40s. You never heard of "Dick Tracy"?"

"Detective in a yellow trench coat and fedora, right?"

"That's the one." Robin sighed. "But we digress."

"Mm." Raven folded her arms, watching him intently as he put the glass of juice to one side. "_Soo_… "Dick Grayson, This Is Your Life!", huh?"

Robin nodded slightly.

"Yeah… that's what bothers me. I mean, _how_ could he have known that stuff?"

"Spying on you?"

"Right. For, let's say, _my entire life_…"

"Robin, that's not-"

"Possible?" Robin smiled grimly. "I wish you were right, Ray. But it isn't impossible, least of all for _this_ guy."

"Robin, Seth is one of the good guys," Raven reminded him flatly. "He's on _our_ side."

Robin shrugged.

"I'm not saying he _isn't_," he replied blandly. "He just creeps me out. I think Jonathon Vaughan was really on to something there…"

Raven frowned, but not at Robin's words; at the thought of Jonathon, where he had disappeared to right when she needed him, and why he was so strongly against Seth. Why, if she remembered correctly, Jonathon had even accused Seth of attempting to murder Robin. But murder… was deliberate, malicious. Surely Seth had merely had Azarath's best interests – and Robin's, to a certain extent – at heart when he had proposed the destruction of the newly-demonic Boy Wonder? And those things he had said about Marcus arguing with Seth one minute, nodding like a sock puppet the next. And…

And, well, she had _seen_ the senators herself. They had been like puppets, not speaking, not even moving except to blink and breathe. If nothing else, Seth certainly had something to do with _that_, she was certain.

"So what are we assuming here?"

Robin's voice interrupted her chain of thought. She looked up at him in surprise; she admired him for that. He really was very smart, a true detective, and he knew precisely what she was thinking, merely because he was thinking it himself. "Weighing out the other side of the argument", as she had often heard him put it.

"Well, _you_ answer that, Holmes," Raven prompted him with a grin. True to form he smiled in that Holmes-like way, a little superior and arrogant – more of a smirk really – but it was all show and actually it amused her.

"Well, we can assume two things here, Watson," he said, leaning forwards, still smiling.

"Where's your pipe?" Raven asked wryly.

"With my deerstalker." He ran a hand through his sleep-tousled hair. "Scenario One: Seth is a lot more than he appears to be."

Raven nodded.

"Right. Or?..."

Robin leaned back again against the head board.

"Or… Scenario Two: _Jonathon Vaughan_ is not all he seems."

Raven blinked.

"You think Jonathon…?"

"I don't _think_ anything. I'm merely surmising what we are possibly looking for, picking out possible suspects."

"Ever the detective."

"I learned from the best, Raven."

Raven smiled at that.

"I know you did; your pointy-eared pal…" She sighed. "Ok, so we should look into Seth and Jonathon?"

"It's advisable. Although… my money's on Seth, to be perfectly honest."

"You don't like him, do you?"

_Jealous_…

She smirked; all of the other male senators didn't like him either…

"Raven, he knocked me out, took me down to the basement and stripped off all my clothes, _while_ I was unconscious. Of course I don't like him!"

"Well, when you put it like that…"

She shivered; he had a point, the two factors "stripping" and "unconscious" sticking out the most… But still, in all fairness, Robin was pretty scarred concerning that kind of thing. Of _course_ he was edgy.

"Even so, Robin, that doesn't automatically make Seth evil," Raven informed him mildly.

Robin's masked eyes narrowed.

"Perhaps not, _but_…" He didn't take his gaze off her. "You said _you_ and the others ended up getting the demon out of me, right?"

Raven nodded in confirmation.

"Correct."

Robin looked down at the red silk sheets draped across his lap.

"Yeah, well… that's what I don't like. If _you_ _guys_ saved me, than what did _Seth_ do?"

Raven smiled.

"Well, actually, he did _kind_ of save you," she told him. "When we tore the demon from you, you were just… well, _nothing_."

"_Nothing?_" Robin repeated flatly.

"Oh, you know what I mean. Seth told me that even if we got the demon out of you, you wouldn't go back to normal because your soul and mind had been destroyed."

"But here I am, Raven."

"Right, smart-ass, because your soul obviously has a brain that isn't in its _pants_-" – He flinched slightly at that remark, remembering the night before – "-and fled your body before it could be destroyed by the demonic influence."

"Which means…" Robin said slowly, "…it was just sailing around somewhere, mind and all, only the mind part must have been sedated in some way because I don't remember zooming around aimlessly without a body."

"Right. And Seth found it, like, _minutes_ before he turned up, and he put it back _into_ you… Robin, what's wrong?"

Robin was staring at her, his masked eyes wide, the realisation dawning on him…

"Raven," he said in despair, "Seth didn't _find_ my soul…"

Raven blinked.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean _he_ took it out of me in the _first_ place!" Robin wailed.

Raven was just staring at him.

"Robin, how can you know that?" She asked softly.

"I told you, he tied me up on the altar, and he did this weird glowy-thing with his hand, and he just sort of sank it into my chest… and then, the last thing I remember, I think, was him smirking at me and saying "Sleep tight, kid" or something like that… Raven, he was tearing out my _soul!_"

Robin sat up properly now, twisting his long fingers together in frustration.

"I thought he was taking the _demon_ out of me," he went on, Raven clinging to his every word. "That's what he said he was going to do… but after he said that, I blacked out, and the next thing I knew was waking up in bed this morning, about five minutes before you came in. And I looked and I didn't have any wings, so I assumed that _he_ had taken the demon out of me, but if _you guys_ did, than the only thing that he _can_ have done was to have taken out my _soul_ instead."

"And what makes you believe that so strongly?" Raven probed. But he was right; she knew he was right. It was the only thing that _could_ have happened…

"Because… well, I went fully-fledged demonic, right?"

"Yes, I saw it, and it wasn't pretty…"

"Spare me the details. Wings were bad enough… If I became a full demon, then my soul must have not been present, because _that_ was the only thing that was stopping the demonic transformation completely. But it can't have been destroyed, and I know it didn't escape – really, how does your _soul_ do a bunk? – and so that means that Seth took it out, because I passed out and went demonic _after_ that, and how strange that _he_ had it, huh?"

"Right," Raven agreed, catching on. "He must have kept your soul with him the whole day, under some kind of enchantment that kept your soul-self in a sedated state so you wouldn't realise what was going on."

Robin nodded.

"Uh-huh. Because pure spirit doesn't just stop feeling, as me, Cy and B.B know from our run-in with the Puppet King. We were imprisoned in wooden bodies, so we couldn't move or fight back, but we could still think and talk, because our soul-selves were still conscious."

Raven was shaking her head, but not in negation.

"I can't believe it," she said softly, looking down at her lap. "Why would he _do_ that? Seth's… one of the good guys…"

Robin nodded in agreement.

"And… if he wanted my soul… why did he put it back?"

Raven looked up and her eyes met his.

"Robin, I don't understand this…"

"Neither do I," Robin replied. "But I _will_. We'll figure this out, Raven, I swear."

"I don't doubt you, Robin, but still… Why would Seth suddenly go bad after all this time? He's been serving as a senator for almost seventeen years."

"It could be one of three reasons," Robin answered. "One: he was evil in the first place, but what his objectives are, we're still not sure. Two: he's seen something he wants; wealth, power, whatever, and he's prepared to do bad things to get it."

"You don't think… maybe the Orb of Azarath?"

"Perhaps. He'll have to fight Slade for it, though…"

"And Three?"

"Three: it's not the real Seth Elliott."

Raven shook her head dejectedly.

"I can already confirm that. He's hugged me a few times, and I know how the presence of his aura feels; it's utterly unique, Robin. If it wasn't him, however flawless a duplicate, I would have sensed it immediately."

"So it's either of the first two."

Raven sighed.

"I guess so…"

Robin put a hand to his chin.

"But _what_ is he up to?"

Raven shrugged, immersed in her lap.

"I don't know…"

Knowing that Seth was no longer on their side – or never _had_ been – made her suddenly feel so empty inside. It was as though he had _died_…

"Raven, do you think perhaps I could see the Senate records?"

Raven looked up in surprise.

"The records? Why?"

"Just so we can check some dates and facts. Rule Number One of any investigation; find some solid evidence."

"Well, they're in the Senate House Library, but… you wouldn't be allowed to see them."

"Then Raven, you just became my all-access library card."

She felt as though she should be offended by that remark, but all she could do was offer him a weak grin; he was right. _He_ wouldn't allowed to see those record files, but _she_, Raven, daughter of Arella and the demon Trigon…?

"Just call me Mata Hari."

He raised his eyebrows.

"Great."

Raven got up.

"Fine, I'll see you in the lounge room in ten minutes."

He frowned.

"Boy, does _that_ sound familiar…"

"It's alright, I won't make you eat any sundaes," she told him dryly, catching on. "Or rip out your soul…"

"Thankyou," he said complacently.

She turned and swept towards the door.

"Oh, and your uniform is all clean and ironed and folded in the bathroom," she informed him. "They even sewed your "R" back onto it for you, and fixed the rips up the back."

"Where did they get the "R" from?"

Raven pulled a face.

"Guess who had to go back to the front room of Titans Tower and get it…"

He grinned.

"Thanks, Ray…"

"Yeah, yeah… just don't make a habit of having a tantrum and ripping it off, Boy Blunder…"

She swept from the room, leaving her last snippy sentence hanging in the air.

_She loves me really_, he though smugly. _She proved that last night…_

* * *

Ah, so Seth isn't in their good books now… they're finally beginning to figure him out.

But _what_ is he up to?

As for Raven and Robin… neither of them know they're going to be parents yet, so… there's still more fun to be had.

Where are Arella and Jonathon? You _may_ find out next chapter, and you _may_ get the next chapter if you review…

Any readers of _Monsters in the Closet_: It'll be updated soon.

Any readers of _Small Print_: It's not, contrary to popular belief, finished. Come on, like Narroch06 and I would finish it like that – Robin still has Slade's… never mind… It's not done; it's just a slow process…

'Til next time, my loves!

- RobinRocks xXx


	31. Thou Shalt Not Kill

Not a long chapter today, folks… but it's dedicated to **Rocky-White Wolf of Curses** because it is her 16th birthday today, Monday 31st July. Hooray and a very happy birthday to one of my long-time readers/reviewers! I think I am correct in saying that you have been here right from the very start, reviewing every single chapter without fail. Thankyou very much; this dedication is the least I can do…

Now, firstly, to clear something up… _Mata Hari_. A few people asked me what "that" was. She was a spy in the 1920s who tricked men into telling her things by flaunting her beauty – she often disguised herself as a dancer. I can't remember if she was American or British (anyone know?), but she was eventually caught and executed by firing squad. Don't worry; Raven won't be executed by firing squad in this fic… :)

Onto the review replies, then! **Coolteenzz **(who has had to go away for about a month, so we won't be hearing from her, but I hope you like this when you eventually get around to reading it! How can you have a BushidoxJericho pairing? Neither of them talk! It'll be like _Brokeback Mountain _all over again… Oh yes, and Robin has no wings now; he is, in fact, in the words of Westlife, "Flying without wings…"); **Narroch06 **(nope, no other Titans in the previous chapter, or… O.o… actually, come to think of it… I don't think they're in it again now until _Remember the Titans… _oops… And a deerstalker is a hat. We discussed this…); **Luhism **(well… here's your update!); **AzarathGirl **(yes, and on that note… _have_ you figured Seth out yet:P); **Azar the Kinslayer **(yes, _Diamonds and Blood_ was a very slow chapter, but it was needed to clear things up a little between our two lil' birdies, and also it was originally part of one big chapter anyway, so… that's why not much happens. I'm glad you are enjoying it anyway…); **Quinn and His Quill **(again, your memory stick made this possible… :) I have answered your key question; as for Seth, you will have to just keep reading to have all your questions answered about _him_…); **Rocky-White Wolf of Curses **(a very happy birthday to you! Hope you like your "present"! So pretty much… you've labelled everyone except the Titans and Batman (and Alfred) bad… Yes, I think there are rather more bad characters in this than good ones…); **OK **(another weird anonymous pen-name… I'm glad you thought that chapter was "kawaii", though…); **Heathen Requiem **(nice pen-name. Uh, well, you reviewed chapter 1, so if you have caught up, I hope you are liking it. And oh yes, Raven's involvement in all of this is just making things a lot more complicated for poor lil' Robin… I don't care how many romantic RobinxRaven fics there are out there – a baby with _that_ girl _can't_ be a good idea…); **Me **(Mata Hari is explained above; Arella will show up soon, and Jonathon is back in this chapter…); **Kougraness **(of course I like your reviews! Seth's a tricky one, and I'm not going to part with a thing… Terra will be back soon (and so will Slade! Finally!)and as for the baby… there is only one (no twins or anything), but that's all I'm saying at the moment… I think everyone has their own ideas and speculations anyhow…); **Crazy Insomniac **(well, Slade is kinda in the dark at the moment, but don't worry, he'll be hopping back on to the "Kill Robin!" bandwagon soon enough… as for Seth, yeah; I'd just keep him in your suspicious books for now…); **BeautifulNightmare16 **(hope your mum wasn't too scared by you locking yourself in your room for two days straight reading a fanfic… Coolteenzz is making me famous! If you keep reading, I hope you like it!); **Phoenix Skyborne **(it's okay, you don't have to review. I know you are busy, and anyway, I'm just glad that you're still here! You're another long-time reader…); and although my reviews are beginning to dwindle again, thanks also to **YamiTai**, **Daybreak25**, **Seductive Angel**, **Poison's Ivy**, **Thrillzone**, **Peace215**, **TheLon3Wolf8986**, **Apocalyptic Omens**… you guys _usually_ review and I trust you will all catch up at some point…

Thanks also to all other readers. Hope you're enjoying this!

Onto the fic; and again, happy birthday to **Rocky-White Wolf of Curses**!

Thou Shalt Not Kill

Ten minutes after Raven's haughty departure found Robin washed up and fully clothed – he'd almost forgotten how tight those green spandex pants were – standing in front of one of the many mirrors, the Blood Diamond threaded carefully around his neck and contrasting against the high black neck of his cape. It wasn't vanity; he just couldn't stop staring at his reflection, taking in every difference from yesterday. Pale skin, no longer gold, and absent of tiger-like stripes. Tall, powerful, sinewy build… he was back to his old self; short for his age, abnormally skinny for someone whose diet consisted mainly of pizza, potato chips and Coca-Cola, and _muscles_?… Well, they were _there_, and they were in pretty good shape, but there was only the slightest hint of them in his arms and legs, and the word "six-pack" was lost on him. But that was ok, he guessed; Bruce had said _he_ had been a scrawny runt when he was sixteen; although, come to think of it, Robin wasn't quite so sure that was actually a compliment…

And at least he didn't have wings anymore. He smiled at his reflection; he had never been so glad to be normal. He did a little wriggly dance as though to demonstrate to a non-existent audience that he was 100 Robin the _Boy_ Wonder again, and 0 anything else, then flipped into an easy cartwheel that took him almost to the door. He left the room and practically skipped down the corridor, every now and then flipping or cartwheeling like the acrobat he truly was. By the time he reached the lounge room he was pretty dizzy, and he staggered in to find Raven sprawled on the furthest couch, her eyes closed in the shadow of her hood.

His ecstatic mood flattened, he made it across the long room in a few leaps.

"Raven, you ok?" He asked frantically, kneeling down beside the couch.

She opened her eyes and looked up at him, smiling weakly.

"Yeah, I'm fine…"

He frowned, pulling down her hood and putting a hand on her forehead. She looked at him through hooded eyes; he clicked his tongue in exasperation, pulled off his glove, and tried again.

"Raven, you're burning up," he stated worriedly, removing his hand and replacing his glove.

She sat up, pulling her hood up again.

"I'm fine, Robin," she assured him.

"No you're not."

She looked up at him and met his defiant masked eyes.

"Don't lie to me, Raven," he went on firmly, "because you're not very good at it. I can _tell_ you're not alright."

"It's _nothing_," Raven pressed.

"You threw up, didn't you?"

Raven looked at him for a very long time. Damn him, there was just _no way_ of fooling him…

"How do you know?"

"You're much paler than usual – which is, like, _white_ – and you're too hot."

She sighed; he was right. She _had_ thrown up. She'd been feeling lousy all day yesterday, and all last night, and even this morning, but she kept pushing it aside to contend with more important matters.

"I did something to you, didn't I?"

He sounded so sad as he said it and she could only look at him.

"I don't know that for sure," Raven replied. "And even if you _did_, it wasn't your fault. You were possessed. Anything that _did_ happen wasn't anything that _you_ did."

"Well, _I_ know for sure," Robin answered softly. "I _hurt_ you."

"You didn't do it on purpose."

"I know, but… Raven, it made you go crazy. Your _eyes_… I don't understand what I did to you, but… I'm really, _really_ sorry."

"I know you are." Raven smiled weakly at him. "I wouldn't worry about it; my mind is very sensitive and I think it was merely an overload of your – or the demon's, I should say – evil aura."

"And that makes you throw up?" Robin asked sceptically.

Raven raised her eyebrows.

"You'd be surprised."

"Raven, I-"

"Robin, this isn't the time to talk about it," Raven interrupted flatly.

"But when are we _going_ to?" Robin asked. "We can't just pretend it didn't happen, because… well, it wasn't much of an accident. I mean, we were really…" He trailed off, hoping she'd understand what he meant.

"We're going home today, Robin," Raven informed him. "We can make some time to talk then, in private."

"Midnight in the basement. Sounds great."

"We'll talk, Robin, I promise. Just not _now_. We have to go to the library, remember?"

He nodded somewhat reluctantly and helped Raven to her feet.

"You sure you're ok?"

"I'm _fine_."

He sensed the irritation in her voice and backed off. She nodded to him and he followed her out of the lounge room and through many corridors to the huge double doorway of the Senate House Library.

"Did you get permission to go in here?" Robin asked.

Raven snorted and pushed the doors open.

"No. But I checked that there was no-one in here."

"Was that before or after you threw up?"

"Shut up."

He obliged and followed her into the huge library. He had been in here two days ago, and had got lost, but had immensely enjoyed it. It was packed with rows and rows of wooden bookcases reaching up to the high painted ceiling, with a huge crystal chandelier hanging down and glinting in the morning sunlight; which was streaming through the large windows.

"I like it in here, Ray," Robin said happily, spreading his arms as he stepped away from her.

"Me too." Raven was standing still, deep in thought.

"Where are the others, anyway?" Robin asked, making for the nearest bookshelf and pulling out a black leather hardback book.

"No idea," Raven replied vaguely. She looked across at him, and her eyes widened ever so slightly as her gaze then moved to the book he was lazily leafing through.

"Robin, put that down," she told him sharply, approaching him.

He looked up.

"Why?"

Raven ran her finger down the spine, the gold lettering of which was in Azarathian.

"It's called _Erotic Enchantments_."

His masked eyes widened a little and he looked down at it again.

"_Robin!_"

"Don't sweat, Ray. I can't read your heebie jeebie language," he told her lazily.

"There's a translation into Latin at the back."

"I can't read Latin either."

"And it's illustrated."

"So it's the ancient Azarathian equivalent of _Playboy_?"

"Exactly." She snatched it off him as he started to leaf through it in interest and shoved it back onto the shelf.

"Don't turn into Beast Boy on me, Robin," she told him flatly, dragging him away from the shelf. She left him in the circular clear centre of the library and started to walk away.

"Do not _move_ from that spot," she threatened him. "And don't _touch_ that book."

"I'm not budging," Robin said lightly.

"I mean it. If I catch you near that bookshelf…"

"You won't," Robin assured her.

"Hmm." Raven eyed him skeptically for a moment or two, then took off and disappeared from view down one of the bookshelf alleyways, no doubt to go and get the records.

Robin sighed heavily and folded his arms, blowing a tuft of feathery jet hair out of his masked eyes. Still no gel, so still a side parting…

_I'll be saying "Holy Ayatollah!" next—_

His deadpan musings were cut short as Raven's scream echoed throughout the entire empty library. Forgetting his promise not to move from _that_ spot, Robin burst into a sprint, his heart hammering in his chest as he skittered down one book-lined alley after another in search of his team-mate.

He found her on her knees, her back to him, her hood still up.

"Raven?" He approached her cautiously, the Blood Diamond bumping against his chest with every step.

Her shoulders were shaking but he couldn't be sure if she was crying or…

"Raven, you ok?" He asked again, kneeling down beside her and putting a hand on her shoulder.

She didn't look at him or even respond, but continued to shake, gasping slightly; but he knew she was not crying. He frowned, and looked beyond her.

"Raven, what's…?" He trailed off, his masked eyes wide. "_Oh my god_…"

There, sprawled out on the white marble floor, was Jonathon Vaughan, his auburn hair all across his face, his hazel eyes staring up at the ornate painted ceiling of the library high above.

He was utterly stone cold dead.

It didn't take much of a detective to figure it out; the senator's black silk robes were soaked with blood, and ripped at the position of his heart. And it wasn't only the material which was ripped; there was a deep, dark, bloody hole in Jonathon's chest where his heart had been physically torn out of his body. The worst of it was that his heart hadn't gone very far; it was clutched in the dead senator's right hand, almost black with congealed blood, giving the impression that he had ripped it out himself.

But it was no suicide.

Jonathon Vaughan had been murdered.

And Robin had a pretty good idea who his murderer was.

He felt Raven turn and collapse against him, sobbing now, as he himself just stared at Jonathon's body in total shock. He'd seen some dead bodies in his time, working with Batman in Gotham City, particularly with the likes of the Joker, Two-Face, Poison Ivy and crime bosses Rupert Thorne and Roland Daggett occupying the underworld scene, but he'd never seen _anything_ like this…

"_Azar,_ Robin… Robin, I…" Raven dissolved into tears again. Robin simply wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly to him, letting her cry into him; he couldn't think of what else to do.

"It's ok, Raven," he whispered.

Raven shook her head against his shoulder.

"No… no, it's _not_ ok…"

"Well, I…" Robin sighed. "No, it's _not_ ok…"

"He's dead… _Azar_, he's _dead_…"

"No. He was murdered."

Raven looked up at him.

"You… you think Seth?..."

"Yes, I do," Robin replied grimly.

Raven shook her head, wiping her eyes.

"Robin, you can't prove that…"

"I'm a detective, not a lawyer," Robin replied flatly. "I'm not looking for proof, forensic or otherwise; I'm looking for facts, and all the facts point at Seth."

"But _why?_" Raven asked. "Why would Seth have killed Jonathon?"

"Because Jonathon was on to him," Robin replied. "He told _me_ that, and he told _you_ that."

"But he didn't tell _Seth_ that," Raven pointed out.

"No, I wouldn't imagine he did," Robin agreed. "But maybe he didn't _need_ to. Maybe Seth already knew, and he bumped Jonathon off before he wrecked… well, _whatever_ he's planning."

"But if he was that worried, why didn't he kill _you_ too?" Raven barbed. "Or at least leave you soulless?"

"I doubt that I am as much of a threat to Seth as Jonathon would have been," Robin pointed out grudgingly. "You've said yourself that Jonathon was very powerful in all aspects of magic."

"Yes, but not as powerful as Seth."

"Hmm, true, but imagine Jonathon, with some evidence to back up his argument, gets Marcus on his side. Marcus is powerful as well, right?"

"Right," Raven confirmed, seeing what he was getting at.

"Right, and then, as Vice-Head Senator, Marcus gets them _all_ to turn against Seth. Suddenly Seth is outnumbered, and twelve against one are pretty bad odds in Seth's favour…"

"So… you think Seth killed him to stop that from happening?"

"I don't doubt it."

"But you don't _know_ it either."

"_No_… not exactly, but…" Robin nodded towards Jonathon's body. "Check out his hand…"

Raven turned away.

"Robin, I really don't want to-"

"Not the hand with his… well, you know. His _other_ hand."

Raven gingerly turned towards Jonathon's body and gasped; clutched in the senator's dead hand was a black leather file with gold Azarathian lettering across it.

"I'm guessing that's the file we came in here for," Robin finished softly.

Raven nodded mutely, her mind racing. Everything was starting to fit into place, and she knew that she – apart from Seth, of course – had been the last person to see Jonathon alive. She remembered him saying he had wanted to check something and that he would join them in five minutes. Only he hadn't come back; he must have come here to get a reference from the Senate file, his last and biggest mistake. Seth must have known, the way he knew everything, and came here and killed him. Then, down in the chamber, when Raven had tried to sense Jonathon's life-force, she had assumed he'd left the building because she couldn't pick it up. But now she knew it was because he was already dead by that point, a very chilling thought… But then, that would mean that Seth had murdered him within ten minutes of her leaving him, so he must have ambushed him in some way because, as Robin had said, Jonathon was very powerful, and there was no sign of any kind of fighting.

"He wanted us to find him," Robin said quietly, as though reading her thoughts. Raven looked at him, her question unspoken.

"Think about it," Robin carried on in answer. "He killed him, but he made a show of it, putting his own heart in his hand to make it look dramatic, even though it obviously wasn't suicide, and instead of disposing of the body he left it in the middle of library where someone was _bound_ to find it, and he even left the file in his hand where…"

Robin trailed off, his face draining of colour.

"What?" Raven pressed frantically.

"Raven, he knew _we_ were going to come and get the file," Robin said hoarsely. "Why _else_ would he have left it? It wasn't a fluke, and it wasn't supposed to be just _anyone_ who found Jonathon; it was _meant_ to be _us_…"

Raven put a hand to her forehead.

"Oh my…" She didn't finish as she looked up at him, pulling down her hood to gaze at him with huge, frightened violet eyes.

"Robin, what are we going to _do?_ I don't even understand what he's up to…"

Robin shook his head in despair.

"Neither do I…" He sighed heavily, frustrated. "As if we haven't got _enough_ to deal with, what with the prophecy and Slade and everything…"

"Do you think that maybe… whatever Seth is up to has something to do with the prophecy?"

"It's a possibility." Robin ran a hand through his soft dark hair. "I mean, Seth is the guardian of the Orb of Azarath, and Slade _stole_ the Orb of Azarath in order to fulfil a prophecy, and he shot me with a magic arrow which put a demon into me so we ended up here and got tangled up with your Head Senator pal and now Jonathon's been brutally murdered and I'm so confused I can't even remember what my name is or why I'm dressed like this…"

"You name is Robin," Raven told him, taking his wrists, "and you're a superhero and a detective, whether you've quit or not, and you're going to get to the bottom of this the way you always do."

"Or I'm going to be shot in the head by Slade the next time I set foot out of Titans Tower."

"Well…" Raven looked at him for a very long time. "That's… a possibility, I guess…"

He raised his eyebrows.

"I should stop hanging around with you. You're making me morbid."

"I blame Batman," Raven replied tonelessly.

"Yeah, so does everyone else…"

Raven dropped his wrists and turned away.

"I can't believe I'm saying this about Azarath," she whispered, "but it's really not safe here. We have to go back to Earth ASAP."

Robin nodded in agreement, glancing briefly at Jonathon Vaughan.

"Robin, it's _you_ I'm worried about," Raven went on, turning back to him. "I don't know… I've just got this terrible feeling… that _you're_ next…"

Robin shook his head.

"I don't think so," he said with more confidence than he felt. "If he wanted me dead, he'd have killed me yesterday, when he had me tied up on the altar. There'd have been nothing to stop him."

"Even so, I want to go home," Raven said softly.

"It wouldn't be too difficult for him to follow us. And besides, you _are_ home."

"I want to go back to _Earth_, to Titans Tower," Raven corrected herself snippily. "And you're right; you _are_ morbid."

He shrugged and looked at the file clutched in Jonathon's dead hand.

"Can I take that with us?"

Raven hesitated.

"Yes, I suppose…" She trailed off and nodded. "Yes, but be quiet about it."

Robin nodded and started towards Jonathon's body.

"I'm going to go and tell Marcus," Raven said quickly from behind him. He nodded but she had already teleported from the library. He understood; she didn't want to look at her dead friend any longer. He didn't really want to look either – it really _was_ gruesome – but he needed that file, and besides…

He leaned over and took the file from Jonathon's fingers, surprised at how easily it slid out of his grip, clutching it tightly, then quickly looking behind him just to check that Seth wasn't looming over him with a mace ready to paste him five square metres across the library floor.

Nothing.

He looked back at Jonathon, noting his lifeless gaze, his lips slightly parted as though he hadn't quite got around to screaming as he died, but had certainly been thinking about it. His green cloak was splayed out underneath him, the emerald silk stained dark in some places with Jonathon's dried blood, and in his right hand lay his own heart, torn so ruthlessly from his chest by Seth Elliott, for reasons Robin was not entirely sure of; but the Boy Wonder didn't intend to stay in the dark much longer.

He put out two green-gloved fingers and slid Jonathon's eyes shut; it made him feel better. Aside from the heart in his hand, the dead senator looked a little more peaceful.

"You did ok, Jonathon," Robin said softly, straightening up, clutching the black Senate file tightly to his chest; the Blood Diamond at his neck glittered in the morning sunlight streaming in through the wide windows of the Senate House Library. He gripped it in his hand, wondering vaguely why the hell he was still wearing it.

He smiled a little, however.

"Thanks for finding that spell, though," he went on, his voice little more than a whisper; funny, it didn't feel creepy to be talking to a dead senator. "You saved me, I guess…"

With a final glance at Jonathon Vaughan, he turned on his heel and walked determinedly out of the library, his cape flowing behind him and his masked face set.

_And I don't know what Seth Elliott is planning, but trust me; he won't get away with it…_

* * *

O.o…

Here's the thing. Every time someone gives me a review saying how much they like Jonathon Vaughan, I gleefully rub my hands together; because yes, this has been in here all along. It was written in the original _Black Magic_ a year ago, when Jonathon didn't have a "fan-base". I didn't expect him to be popular at all, so it was just icing on the cake when everyone liked him.

Yep, he's dead; make no mistake. He's not coming back. The only senator with _any sense whatsoever_ has been killed. I didn't deliberately kill him because everyone liked him; he was always destined to die, from the moment I came up with his character. He knew too much, so he had to go. End of story.

And yes, there is no enigma. Seth killed him. Has anyone begun to revise their opinion of him?

I shall clear things up now; and some people have, I think, known this all along.

Seth isn't good.

Seth is bad. Very, _very_ bad. And not just _bad_.

Seth is freaking _evil_.

But what is he up to? What does he want? How is he going to get it?

So now we have two villains; Slade and Seth. We know what Slade wants. We don't know what Seth wants.

Well, _you_ don't, anyway. Heh-heh…

I know this chapter only serves to open up more questions. That's the point.

You want answers, you need to review…

One last happy birthday to **Rocky-White Wolf of Curses**; and also, no flames over Jonathon, please…

- RobinRocks xXx


	32. Heartless

Again, a great response with a whole 20 reviews! I am deeply flattered and undeserving…

Okay, well, I read your comments carefully, and I decided that _Black Magic_ was missing a few points. So… I wrote this chapter yesterday for you, hopefully to answer some questions and to fulfil the requests of some who wished for a Jonathon vs. Seth showdown. This chapter deals with the above in the form of a flashback, which makes up the latter half of the chapter – the first half takes another little look at the MarcusxJonathon dynamics, which will, of course, have been affected by Jonathon's murder. So yes… the fat lady hasn't sung quite yet – Jonathon _is_ in this chapter, in flashback form…

I apologise to all who liked him. But, you know… he _had_ to go. The true reason _why_ is below…

Anyway, big thanks to; **BeautifulNightmare16 **(oh yes, Seth is _waaay_ evil, I'm afraid… if you don't believe me, you will by the end of this chapter… Well, you have a lot of perceptive questions about Seth, but if I was to answer them then you wouldn't need to play detective anymore…); **Me **(um, yeah, Jonathon's death was always part of _Black Magic_, right from when I came up with him. I mean, I have added _so_ much to this fic since I started putting up, but Jonathon's murder is actually one of the original plot functions… And _Black Magic_ will have probably around… 36 chapters. We're almost done!); **Louvieee **(if you have caught up to here, I'm glad you're liking it. A solid three hours…? That including _Asylum_ or what?); **Rocky-White Wolf of Curses **(glad you liked the chapter for your birthday, considering it was so morbid… O.o Yes, that _is_ weird; Chapter 31 on the 31st…); **Quinn and His Quill **(destined forevermore to be the shameless plugger? I have my own memory stick back now, so… Nope, Jonathon is as dead as… a really dead thing… in _Blackadder_ lingo… Well, just don't turn into Casey Drake on me, okay? Scary reviewer… BTW, how is Bleach?); **Raven Victoria Grayson **(neat pen-name… Although AzarathGirl was cool too :) Yes, just what _is_ going on with Seth indeed? And you aren't the only one to ask about Arella…); **TheLon3Wolf8986 **(I'm glad you love to hate Seth because there is really no reason for you to _like_ him unless you hate every other member of the _Black Magic_ cast… Particularly Jonathon and Robin… Speaking of Robin, yes, he does care very much for Raven indeed… but he still doesn't know he's going to be a daddy…); **Heathen Requiem **(hey, you caught up quick! I agree that this fic is ridiculously long, but I am glad you are enjoying it all the same…); **YamiTai **(this is a cruel, cruel thing to say, my dear, but as you are the "original" Jonathon Fan-Girl… I have been greatly anticipating your reaction to his murder ever since you first said that you liked him… But Jonathon, like Elvis, is dead – you must accept it… And yesiree, Raven has been well and truly knocked up…); **Narroch06 **(yup, I think everyone saw Jonathon's being bumped off coming a mile away… Well, this chapter is kinda because of your comments about Marcus and Jonathon's "relationship"… if you could even call it that… Oh, and Seth is _not_ stupid. Not at all. He has a thousand more aces up those flowing black sleeves of his… and a thousand more cigarettes too…); **Seductive Angel **(yup, Seth is a murdering bastard… and you _still_ love him? Um, okay, I'm just glad Robin knows _you're_ having his kids, because he sure doesn't know about _Raven_… _Yes_, Jonathon had to be killed; and I'm not over 60. I'm 17 – and I was 16 when I wrote that part about Mata Hari…); **Delirium Trashed My Bathroom** (I think you can call pest control for that kind of thing… :P Again, yeah, I think a lot of people had figured out that Jonathon was going to die… And another kind person who spent a long time reading the whole thing! Great to have you aboard!); **Poison's Ivy **(argh, you and your long, lovely but very scary reviews… no, I'm kidding, I love them really… I am glad you like writing the reviews because I love to read them! I'll have to search out that fic – I have never heard of it, although I have heard of the writer… The gear? You'll have to wait and see about that… and there will be plenty more _Sherlock Holmes_ references popping up (I love those books… _Sherlock Holmes_ is one of the best things to come out of my country…), as well as more _Star Wars_ and even _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ at some point. And keep that secret, 'kay?); **Crazy Insomniac **(yes, what _about_ Arella, huh? Is Slade with Seth? Hmm… an interesting angle, I guess… and _duh_, Robin's going to be in peril. Isn't that what you're all _here_ for?); **Azar the Kinslayer **(ooh, a Jonathon-hater… you're the first one to be vocal about it… BTW, there's something to do with Azar herself in this chapter, you might like to know…); **Peace215 **(nonono… _I_ didn't kill a good guy – _Seth_ did… And yes, Robin is going to be _pretty_ upset when Raven eventually figures it out herself and breaks the news to him… Nope, Robin has his own soul back, not Jonathon's… and yes, the plot only thickens from here on in…); **Daybreak25 **(thanks for your comments and for going to the trouble of sending a PM instead of a review. I appreciate it. You'd better run, Sethy – Daybreak25 isn't your biggest fan…); **and all other non-reviewing readers!** If you have any questions, please do ask, and I will try to answer them for you. Unless the questions is "What is Seth up to?", in which case I _can't_ answer you…

Again, informal language between Raven and Marcus/Jonathon and Seth is a "translation" of Azarathian – they wouldn't speak to each other in English, but in their own language, which is why it is informal.

Hope everyone likes this chapter – for **Narroch06**, who pointed it out, and all other JonathonxMarcus supporters; and for the bloodthirsty **Quinn and His Quill**, who requested a Jonathon/Seth bitch fight…

Heartless

Stepping from her black ethereal Soul Self and pulling it back into her being, Raven paused for a moment, composing herself.

She was still very much on edge from the finding of Jonathon only a few minutes before; and although it she who was supposed to have greater reign over her emotions, she was almost ashamed to admit that Robin had in fact been the calmer of the two of them when faced with that horrific…

…_spectacle_…

Jonathon Vaughan. His heart torn out of his chest and in his hand.

_Nice, Seth. **Real** nice…_

But she had not been able to help herself – to dispel her tears or drive away her shock or crush her horror. She had simply never seen anything like it.

Robin, on the other hand, was _Robin_.

Boy Wonder; Batman's protégé. He had grown up in Gotham City, which was… _Wacko Central_. Robin was technically one _of_ those wackos – or at least, he had hung around with one of them, that pun not intended.

She grimaced. And speaking of Robin, he was rubbing off on her, it appeared…

But not in the _right_ way. She almost envied his methodical collectiveness when faced with crimes of a weird and… well, just _weird_ nature. When you had seen murder victims laugh themselves to death courtesy of the Joker, get "all wrapped up" by Poison Ivy's deadly vegetation or get turned to larger-than-life (although they were anything but alive) popsicles by Mr Freeze, someone with their own heart in their hand probably didn't seem nearly so strange…

Nevertheless, Robin and his colourful "Rogue's Gallery" from Gotham City (and bearing in mind that at _least_ half of them were still loose following the Arkham Asylum break-out courtesy of Slade), were not important right now.

She had to tell Marcus that Jonathon was dead.

And then Seth needed to be…

She paused, wiping her eyes.

Punished? How would they punish him? Azarath was not like Earth – it was a peaceful realm, where no-one was _ever_ murdered.

So how were you to punish a murderer?

And when it came right down to it, although it was obvious it _was_ Seth… they didn't have any _proof_ it had been him.

Perhaps, if it _could_ be proved, Seth would be banished from Azarath? Stripped of his position as Head Senator?

Inside, she was terrified. Perhaps more scared than she had ever been in her entire short life – and _that_ was saying a _lot_, considering the destiny that she knew hung forebodingly over her head.

She simply couldn't keep track of anything anymore. She was scared for herself – because Robin had done _something_ to her, and she had a _very_ nasty little suspicion of what it could possibly be… She hoped against hope that she was wrong; but now _that_ wasn't even her Number One priority. Robin was presumably himself again, and although she could sense no demonic remnants left within him, there was just a little _something_ that got her about him… Perhaps it was a visionary sense – she could somehow detect that something else was going to befall him soon, or… well, maybe it was just that wretched necklace. Either way, she had already vowed to keep a close eye on him – there was no way he was over the safety border yet.

He was being _used_ for some kind of purpose, and she was beginning to get the feeling that it was perhaps not only _Slade_ who was thirsty for his mortal blood…

And then, of course, there _was_ that whole thing where he was at the very top of Slade's hit-list.

He was a smart boy; and had already weighed out what he knew of the situation.

But she suspected that he did not _really_ know the danger he was in. Neither did _she_ – at least, not in full.

But, being what she was, it was granted to her that if she did not protect him, sometime and somehow, he was going to die.

And it _wasn't_ going to be natural causes.

Somehow… she got the feeling too that _she_ might be the only one _capable_ of saving him.

So there was that, and _that_… and then that _other_ whole thing where she had seen visions of her own terrible destiny inside _his_ head.

What was up with that?

And _Terra_… Raven shivered at the thought of that traitor.

Terra was involved somewhere here – and not just because she had helped save Robin's… well, _body_. She had been in Raven's dream, and… Somehow, Raven just knew that Terra had a bigger part to play somewhere along the line.

Whether it would be for good or bad, she could not say.

Oh, and then, of course, _Seth Elliott_, the supposed "saviour" of this equation, had torn out Robin's soul, then put it back, and in between that he had killed one of the _other_ senators.

Jonathon Vaughan.

The one senator who was "on" to him.

So _what_ was Seth up to?

Raven put a hand to her head.

It was all so very, _very_ confusing… and she could admit that they were in _way_ over their heads.

Because there was no way of fitting together a full picture.

She and Robin could only piece together so much without knowing Seth's motives; the other three Titans knew even less than them.

The Senate knew nothing of Raven's visions, nor anything of the fact that she might be…

Slade and Terra knew nothing of the events that had transpired in Azarath.

Seth Elliott, though he was probably the one pulling the strings, knew nothing of Slade and Terra's plans.

And all of the other "mortal gods" – Batman (still chasing Arkham's assorted mêlée of costumed weirdos), Superman (ditto Lex Luthor), the Justice League (ditto Brainiac), that Static Shock kid over in Dakota (ditto… _whoever_ he fought)… well, they didn't have a freaking _clue_.

They didn't even _know_ the ability to use their powers rested on the slender shoulders of Batman's sidekick.

Still, she knew that it would be best to inform Marcus Vandiver of Jonathon's death quickly, and since she was right outside the door to his study…

She pulled up her hood to hide her red-rimmed eyes and wiped her face again and then knocked timidly on his door, crazily hoping that he wasn't still…

_Possessed_, if that was the word for it.

"Come in!"

Raven entered with a heavy heart (but at least she still _had_ one), closing the door behind her with her telekinesis. Her powers were at the ready, in case he was still under Seth's control and attempted to jump her…

Marcus looked up at her, brushing a feathery lock of his dark brown hair back from those deep indigo eyes. He was at his desk, paperwork sprawled in front of him, and… yes, there was real expression there. She could sense that he was normal again and a little of the weight on her heart lifted. He did, in fact, look deeply troubled.

Maybe he already knew?

"Raven!" He leapt up from his desk and came around it; his flowing robes were green and gold today. "I just sent Aurora to find you!"

"Why?" Raven asked warily.

Marcus gripped at his hair.

"Three senators are missing."

Raven's stomach did something very weird inside her – some kind of acrobatic that could give _Robin_ a run for his money.

"_Three_?" She repeated hoarsely.

Seth had killed _more_ than just Jonathon?

And then, terrifyingly, it dawned on her that her mother…

She hadn't been able to find Arella the night before either.

"Who is missing?" Raven asked frantically; Azar help her, if Seth had harmed her mother—

Marcus took her by the shoulders.

"Jonathon, Arella, and Seth. I have sent the other senators to-"

"_Seth_?" Raven interrupted; even her fears being confirmed about her mother were quelled by _that_. "_Seth_ is missing?"

What, had he killed _himself_ as well?

"Yes. He came to me earlier this morning and told me the excellent news of the Avenger's exorcism and full recovery – something for which I commend you, Raven – and I requested his permission to call a meeting later in the morning to discuss the implications of the event. He granted me it and I went to find Jonathon to share the good news with him."

"But you didn't find him."

"Yes. I called the meeting, but the aforementioned three did not turn up with the others."

"Not even Seth?"

"Raven, we have searched the Senate House for their auras. We can find nothing. They have disappeared."

Raven took a deep, shuddering breath.

"Marcus, Jonathon is dead."

"Yes, I…" Marcus trailed off and stared at her, his indigo eyes wide. "_What_?"

"Jonathon is dead," Raven repeated shakily, feeling sick with terror for her mother. "That's why I came to… Robin and I just found him in the library."

Marcus was staring at her, utterly floored. For a long time, he couldn't make even a sound.

"I… then this…"

"Seth murdered him."

Marcus looked scandalized.

"Raven Roth, you must not say such things…"

But inside, he somehow knew that she spoke the truth. Seth and Jonathon… they hadn't ever seen eye-to-eye.

And Jonathon had been wary of him.

Perhaps Seth had some good _reason_ to kill Jonathon, but…

Something deep inside him broke in two.

"This is… most serious," he said weakly, trying to keep his face impassive. He placed a hand on Raven's shoulder. "I would desire for you to stay here. I must go and look over this. He's… in the library?"

"Yes, but…" Raven's eyes glowed. "My mother! Where is Arella?"

"She is being searched for."

Raven clenched her fists, near tears.

"I swear to Azar, Marcus, if he has murdered my mother—"

"I fear that…" Marcus interrupted her quietly, then trailed off. "Raven, these are dark times indeed. We will locate your mother, although I am afraid, since you have bore me this sad news, I cannot account for her being alive. Please, stay here until I return. I will not be long. When I do return, I wish for you to tell me everything you know so that we can hopefully make a little sense of this…"

Raven nodded and Marcus let go of her, disappearing into his Soul Self.

As soon as he was safely gone, she slipped into her own black raven-shaped Soul Self and soared out through the door.

If Arella was dead, then Azar help Seth Elliott.

He was going to _need_ it.

* * *

Once in the library – his heart pounding – Marcus Vandiver quickly found Jonathon's body. 

He approached slowly and knelt down beside his dead best friend.

Jonathon was exactly the way that Robin had left him; his eyes closed, his own heart still clutched in his hand.

Sickened, Marcus looked away for a few moments. Then, when he looked back, something in him wrenched.

Reaching out, he touched Jonathon's cheek. The other man was icy cold, as he had been dead for a number of hours – but rigor mortis had not yet set in.

Marcus lifted him under his back and held him to him; Jonathon's head lolled right back uselessly and his arms still trailed on the marble floor.

Marcus kissed his icy lips, and then rested his forehead against that of his dead friend and wept silent tears that streamed down his face from his closed eyes.

"I didn't tell you, but…" Marcus breathed deeply. "…_I love you_…"

He knelt like that for another long while – for only in death were they finally allowed to be together in this way.

To touch and to feel and to learn and to _know_.

Together – alone – one last time.

And then, as Marcus gently laid him back down, he noticed red markings on the marble floor beneath where he had been lying, partially covered by his green cloak.

Marcus pushed Jonathon's cloak aside and saw that it was writing.

A message. In Azarathian.

It was to _him_.

And it was written in Jonathon's blood.

Aghast, Marcus read it off in his mind;

_Too late; no more smoochies for you, Marcus Vandiver. Guess you get to be Head Senator now, though. You can't stop me; one way or another I will destroy you and all of Azarath. Only Trigon's daughter will be spared, and she will be mine._

_Have a nice day,_

_Seth Elliott._

_P.S: You were an annoying lapdog. And Jonathon was right about me. Shame it got him killed._

There was a little smiley face drawn next to Seth's name.

Sickened and angered, Marcus clutched at Jonathon's body more tightly, fiery tears burning at his eyes.

What was Seth up to? He had obviously left – that much was clear now. He had done whatever he needed to do and finally revealed himself for what he was.

But he meant to destroy Azarath?

And why did he want _Raven_?

And Seth had known that there was a… "spark" between Marcus and Jonathon…

Liquid blue fire shot from Marcus' eyes in beams, blazing over the obscene message and wiping it from the marble.

Jonathon _had_ been right about Seth all along. Marcus had not believed him.

And now Jonathon was dead.

But _Seth_ was right too; with him gone, Marcus was now automatically Head of the Azarathian Senate.

And he was going to take a leaf from Jonathon's book; he was going to keep the memory of his friend alive.

He was waging war on Seth Elliott.

And he was _not_ going to lose.

_

* * *

Jonathon Vaughan snapped his fingers and the lock of the Journal Vault in the back room of the library snapped in two, pinging to the marble floor. _

_He knew he didn't have long – he had to meet Raven Roth and her friends down in the sacrificial chambers in a few minutes to remove the demon from the Avenger before he did some real damage._

_He shivered._

_Demonic possession. A horrible affliction._

_Rummaging quickly through the alphabetised journals and files and notes, the auburn-haired senator quickly found what he was looking for and pulled it out._

_Black leather casing. The Senate File._

_Containing notes of every senator since the start of the Senate over eight hundred years ago._

_Jonathon had his suspicions, his theories…_

_And now he just needed to check them before he made his move._

_Perhaps he could not turn to rest of the Senate against Seth, especially if he resorted to such tactics as controlling their wills._

_He and Raven's sweet Earth-born mother, Arella Roth, had been the only ones to escape his spell; he had left her a while ago in her own chambers after she had assured him she would be fine on her own, although she appreciated his concern. He hadn't liked to leave her, as she was powerless – as a human._

_But after helping him to raid Seth's study for the book and necessary ingredients for the exorcism spell, she had announced that she was feeling tired and wished to retire to her own quarters._

_He hadn't seen her since._

_Flipping through the file quickly, Jonathon's large almond-shaped hazel eyes flickered back and forth across the pages searching for—_

_Ah, there he was._

_Jake Chris—_

"_I thought I might find you here."_

_Jonathon froze; recognizing that Seth Elliott was standing right behind him. _

"_I'm just checking the old books in case vermin got into them," he said smoothly, not turning around._

"_Oh yes?" Seth gave a little laugh and stepped closer to him, taking his cigarette from his mouth. "Find anything?"_

"_Yeah." Jonathon flipped the page to the section of information on Seth himself and whipped around, showing it to him. "I found **you**."_

_Seth laughed again._

"_Really, you're an amusing one, Jonathon… You stayed up all night with that one, didn't you?"_

_Jonathon glared at him disgustedly._

"_That's right, laugh it up, you **murderer**…"_

"_Oh, now, Johnny…" Seth casually flicked some ash from his cigarette to the floor. "…How can you label me a murderer? I haven't killed you… **yet**."_

_Jonathon dropped the file, firing his power up; his eyes blazed white and his body coiled like a spring._

"_You will murder no-one else!" He hissed at him._

_Seth examined his cigarette, unconcerned._

"_I'll do what I like, Jonathon Vaughan, and **you** will not stop me. Moreover, you **cannot** stop me…"_

_Jonathon took a deep breath and whispered an incantation beneath his breath; the form of a sleek, tapered sword faded into view in his hand – spectral and ghostly until he gripped it, whereupon it become solid._

"_Azar, forgive me for resorting to this…"_

_He lunged at Seth, who simply stood there impassively, still examining his cigarette with exaggerated interest. At the very last moment his eyes too flamed white and he snapped out his hand and grabbed the blade of the sword, somehow stopping it right in its tracks before it sliced him cleanly in two._

_He flexed his fingers and the blade snapped in half._

_The sharp end clattered to the floor, leaving Jonathon holding the hilt and half of the snapped blade._

_Seth smirked and flicked his cigarette aside._

"_You have to admit, that wasn't bad for someone who isn't Superman…" His evil smirk deepened. "Of course, I could snap **Superman** in two as well, if I wanted…"_

_Jonathon flipped the broken blade over in his hand and pasted Seth across the jaw with the heavy hilt. He followed up with a barrier spell that pushed outwards, sending Seth smashing out of the back room and out into the main library. Jonathon went after him, whispering another few words and restoring the blade to its proper state._

_He knew that killing Seth would put him in disgrace. He would lose his place in the Senate and be branded a killer._

_But it would be **worth** it if he could stop him._

_Because Jonathon knew what Seth was up to._

_At least, he **thought** he did…_

_Seth rose with very little effort, as though a puppet on a string, as Jonathon advanced implacably upon him._

_Ironically, it was not **Seth** who was the puppet – he, on the contrary, was indeed the puppet master._

_Controlling everyone else._

_Jonathon swung the sword in an arc over his head and flames blazed to life along its length, lighting Azarathian runes and symbols along the blade too. His eyes were flaring white as Raven's did and he gripped the weapon with the knowledge of a master swordsman._

_Seth pushed his long hair out of his glittering green eyes, studying his enemy, wary of him._

_Jonathon was perhaps no match for him. But he was – despite his complacent and defiant nature – extremely powerful; and if **any** of the senators stood a chance against Seth, then it was him._

_The flaming blade came at him again; Seth calmly raised a barrier of water with a few muttered words to quell the fire, but Jonathon was on top of him, aborting the swing and turning the barrier to ice with a flick of his wrist, shattering it with a kick._

_Seth snapped his fingers and the shards of ice turned to rose petals, which exploded into glittering dust when they hit the marble floor. There was the blade in his face again, and he clapped the flat of it between his palms – it burned his hands but did not hurt him – and knocked the hilt back down into Jonathon's gut._

_Tearing the sword out of Jonathon's hand, Seth turned it to sand and let it fall out of his fingers as though from the neck of an hourglass. A long staff then appeared in his own hand, drawn from nothing but a few Azarathian words – it was tapered to a sharp stake-like point at the end. Gripping it, he thrust it forwards, straight at Jonathon's face, but the other senator was already gone, melting into his Soul Self and vanishing._

_Seth was highly offended._

"_Azar damn it, Jonathon, I never took you for a coward…" he muttered._

"_Then you were right about **one** thing."_

_Seth whipped around, his long and robe fanning out behind him with the sharp movement._

_Jonathon was back, now behind him, a smirk on his face; and in his hand was a silver knife. Or… it was more of a dagger, pure shining silver, with Azarathian runes carved into the blade itself, and with a dragon curling itself around the hilt. Its eyes flashed glittering ruby, and its long silver tongue forked in an elegant coil from its exquisitely-carved jaws._

_Seth stared at it; and for the first time, his arrogant smile was truly gone._

_Jonathon idly toyed with it in his hands._

"_One of the Seven Blades of Azar," he said lazily, holding it up. "One for each chakra; each for a different purpose. This one is the **ashma** **chakra**, ironically… and forged for the purpose of—"_

"_I know what it's for!" Seth snapped._

"_Oh." Jonathon raised his eyebrows. "Then you'll understand when I'm going to impale your heart on it…"_

_Seth eyed him balefully._

_Oh yes, Jonathon had done his research._

_But that didn't mean he was going to **win**._

_Jonathon came at him again, the knife an extension of his arm; Seth was actually forced to duck low under the sweeping movement of it, dropping his tapered staff. He twisted and took Jonathon's legs from under him, but the blade of the knife grazed his cheek as Jonathon went down and Seth shrieked and rolled away, his hand clasped to his cheek. Blood spilt from beneath his pale fingers, and even a hissing sound that did not come from Seth's throat, but from his cut skin._

_Jonathon rolled over and sat up, his hazel eyes narrowed._

_Seth turned murderously on him, his green eyes blazing an ethereal white – so much that they seemed to have an electricity about them. His hand moved away to reveal a shallow gash on his cheek – but it was hideous even so. A little smoke curled from it as though the blade had been white-hot and although crimson blood ran down his cheek and off his jaw from it, the cut itself was black, as though he had tar below the surface of his pale perfect skin._

_Jonathon looked upwards as he heard a sudden ominous creaking from the ceiling; and the whole huge chandelier gave way, hurtling down straight at him like a comet of gothic platinum and crystal and flaming candles, brought down by Seth's power._

_He simply rolled out of the way, all of his spells fleeing him for a moment; he scraped into a crouch—_

_And then gasped in agony as Seth descended on him and kicked the Blade of Azar out of his grasp. It went spinning across the marble floor of the library but before Jonathon could summon it back to him, another kick from Seth smashed him onto his back._

_Dazedly, Jonathon lifted his head to find Seth springing headlong at him, his hands outstretched and his fingertips blazing with his deep delphinium-blue power. _

_Desperately, Jonathon reached out and his hand found the staff; gripping it, he pitched it upwards like a javelin, impaling Seth right through his heart._

_Seth's eyes went wide and his assault was cut short like a jammed record._

_With a heave of strength, Jonathon pushed upwards and got to his feet, pushing Seth back with him and slamming him against one of the stacks. The tapered end stuck into the wood, pinning Seth there._

_For a few moments there was silence; Jonathon caught his heaving breath and Seth simply stood there, looking down at the staff curiously._

_Then he looked up._

_Now with thick tar-like black matter and blood running down his face from his cut._

_Smirking._

_Jonathon stared at him in horror, then scowled and thrust on the staff._

_Seth didn't even flinch._

"_Don't you **have** a heart?" Jonathon spat, his voice a little shaky. "I mean, I know you're an evil bastard, but I didn't think you were actually **physically** heartless…"_

"_Hm?" Seth cocked his head and smiled twistedly, not bothering to wipe away the macabre mess oozing down his face. "Oh, I'm not the **heartless** one here, Jonathon…"_

_Seth's hand, blazing blue, suddenly thrust upwards and plunged right into Jonathon's chest; bursting through his black robe and skin and even his ribcage for the Head Senator's fingers to close around the other man's heart. Blood spattered up Seth's front and face, staining his white jumper with tiny crimson blotches._

_Jonathon's eyes widened. He opened his mouth a little, but no scream came out; and for a few moments they stood there frozen like that – Seth Elliott with his hand plunged right into Jonathon Vaughan's chest, holding his still-beating heart, and with a stake-like staff through his **own** heart._

_Jonathon groaned in agony under his breath, knowing that death was upon him._

"_Marcus will… send you to hell…" he managed to get out._

_Seth smiled._

"_Ah, yes, Marcus… your beloved little Marcus…" He laughed coldly. "Don't worry, I'll be sure to let him know that your last thoughts were of him. I think he'll miss you; shame you only ever had one kiss, hmm?"_

_He sighed._

"_The pair of you make me sick, and not just because you maybe even foolishly **love** each other. No, you are idiots. The entire **Senate** is made up of idiots. You never suspected a thing from me, and here's another news flash; two nights ago, you had demons **mating** on Senate ground, and no-one even knew…"_

_Jonathon managed to look up at him._

"_Demons… mating…?"_

"_Dear sweet little Raven and her possessed mortal friend!" Seth spat. "Now that **can't** be a good thing…" _

_He smiled._

"_Which suits **me** just fine…"_

_Jonathon had almost lost consciousness and taunting him was boring when he wasn't awake to hear it._

"_Just thought you might like to know," Seth whispered, "that she's going to be a mommy…"_

_He wrenched his hand backwards, tearing Jonathon's heart of his chest._

_Jonathon didn't make a sound; but seconds later his body tumbled to the marble floor, his eyes still wide open, and he was simply no more._

_Seth walked idly forward, the stake going right through him, until he was completely off it. The hole through his chest healed up immediately and he smiled._

_Shame the same couldn't be said for dear Jonathon._

_Seth idly tossed the heart from one hand to the other as he thought about how he could make this dramatic; not caring that he was getting blood all over both hands._

_Finally he decided to just go for a shock factor; he employed his magic to write the note to Marcus using Jonathon's blood and then placed Jonathon's heart in his own hand. Retrieving the Senate File, it went into the other._

_He smiled when he was done, calling up his infallible magic once again to reverse the damage to the library so that it wouldn't look like there had been fighting. Pulling the staff out of the wooden book stack behind him, he turned it to a red silk cloth, which he used to wipe his bloody hands on. He wiped Jonathon's blood from his face too, and dabbed at the cut from the knife._

_It wasn't deep. It would heal._

_But he couldn't heal it himself. He would simply have to wait for it to fix itself. It might even take days._

_He summoned the Blade of Azar to him and wrapped it in the cloth to protect himself from it, then slipped it into the pocket of his robe._

_He knew exactly what to do with it, since he couldn't destroy it…_

_And Jonathon?_

_Seth smiled._

_He had been looking forward to killing him for a long time now._

_Not just because he **hated** him; no, Jonathon knew too much._

_**Far** too much._

_Like how to kill him._

* * *

Hope that this satisfies you… 

The knife – the Blade of Azar – has made an earlier appearance than it should have done, but I think it is in a better place now…

Well, there you are. That's how Marcus took it; and that's how Jonathon died.

Yes, Jonathon really and truly _was_ onto him – as in, Jonathon knew what he was up to.

But _you_ don't, so you're just going to have to keep reading, _aren't_ you?

Who was Jake Chris—?

Well, it never told you the full name. You'll find out soon enough…

Next chapter: another new one which is also now going to have to go in. The Titans are back (yes, those guys…) and Raven is on the warpath, in search of her mother…

Will she be too late?

So… I'll write that when I get some feedback (I suppose I should wait, seeing as this was written because of people's comments and requests). All these new chapters mean that poor _Remember the Titans_ is going to be completely rearranged, but it is worth it – this version is so much better than the original _Black Magic_. I owe that partially to having now seen Season Four of _Teen Titans_; and also to you guys and your input. You might not realise how much your comments help me, but a lot of stuff has been added because of things you have said.

Okay… gushing over.

Review or else.

- RobinRocks xXx

P.S: Just four more chapters until _Remember the Titans_…


	33. Messenger Angel

Well, people, the ANs today are on a slightly academic note…

Firstly, I would like to dedicate the chapter to my co-writer/collaborator/delinquent-schemer, Narroch06, who – and I hope she doesn't mind me telling everyone this – started college yesterday, Wednesday 16th August. Here's to you, buddy; congratulations!

Secondly, I would like to announce that I DIDN'T fail my Psychology AS level entirely! Remember I said I would? I thought it would be a U (so bad it's actually "Unclassified") for sure, but I managed to get an E. I know that's still a pretty sucky grade, but it's NOT A FAIL!

And I got an A in English (that exam a while back that you all very kindly wished me luck for), so… dudes, I _so_ don't care about that E! Power to the people! Well, to me, anyway…

Anyway, I'm totally boring you, so…

**Thankyou** to; **Quinn and His Quill** (yes, you are bloodthirsty. Glad you liked the Jonathon vs. Seth scene, it was pretty much for you! _And I didn't **fail** Psychology! Ha!_); **Narroch06 **(my Wittenberg homie! This chapter is for you! Again, the JonathonxMarcus moment was for you and the other JonxMarc supporters! And yeah, I guess they _do_ kinda fight like alchemists… not intentional!); **YamiTai **(like I said, I was anticipating your reaction to Jonathon's murder from the very moment you reviewed saying that you liked him. I know, it's evil… Um, yeah, probably somewhere _waaay_ back in the ANs of _Asylum_ I probably said I would never write slash, but that was before _Small Print_… O.o); **Heathen Requiem **(thankyou! Hope you think that this chapter keep up the "sweet" standards!); **Raven Victoria Grayson **(you rebel away, dude! Glad you liked the murder scene… it was kinda fun to write…); **Daybreak25 **(my lil' Mickeykins… if you can't take any more surprises, _don't_ read _Remember the Titans_! Jake Chris—? You'll get the full name soon enough. Don't worry, he's not another crazy important OC for you to get confused about… Oh, and again, Seth – you'd better start running…); **Rocky-White Wold of Curses **(you know what, dude? If you had said that about this fic having its own shrine when I first got on this site not even a year ago, I would have laughed. But now, considering that _Black Magic_ has its own MV and _Small Print_ has two MVs and three pieces of fan-art and I found someone on some slash forum with an on-screen icon showing Robin and Slade with a few quotes from _Small Print_ on there… well, it wouldn't surprise me anymore. I'm not saying that this fic is so amazing it _deserves_ a shrine – I'm just saying that if someone _made_ one, I would be very flattered, but not very surprised…); **Me **(is Seth darn powerful? Is Seth more powerful than everyone else? You bet, my friend! Wait, you guys thought _Slade_ was the one you should be worrying about? And as above, you _will_ find out who Jake Chris— is…); **Poison's Ivy **(whoo, another HUGE review! I thank you muchly, my friend! So you would deal with Seth by murdering _him_? O.o Oh, yeah, Gotham: full of wackos. Batman is one of 'em… and so is Robin, really… The JonathonxMarcus element… it's just a little extra for those who wanted/suspected it. It's irrelevant and doesn't affect the storyline at all, really… Does Seth have a heart? Does he want Raven, the baby, or both? C'mon, Ivy, you ask too many questions… you'll just have to wait and see, won't you…?); **Crazy Insomniac **(dude, I am _impressed_… Very impressed indeed. That is all I am saying… you will see what impressed me when you get there…); **Kami-Elf **(hey, it's you! You're back! Haven't heard from you since _Asylum_! Great to have you back on board and it's nice to know you didn't drift away, but are still reading! Thankyou very much for the compliment about my writing style! I try to make my spelling/grammar/sentence structure as perfect as possible. There are mistakes here and there that I don't notice – it's always more difficult doing your own proof-reading – but for the most part I think that it is common writer's courtesy to present a piece of work that is clear and coherent, otherwise it is a waste of the reader's time. I don't really read things myself that are riddled with mistakes and grammatical errors. As for the storyline itself… thankyou again! This whole story has been in the works about three years (I was thinking about it about a year before I even started writing _Asylum_) so it should hope that it is well thought-out by now… Anyway, nice to hear from you again!); **Coolteenzz **(yeah, sorry about that. If I were you I would just read from _Diamonds and Blood_… And now this fic has been compared to _Constantine, Harry Potter, Fullmetal Alchemist_ and _The Da Vinci Code_. Well, I guess it's true when they say there is no originality left in the world, although I do not consciously copy things, except that drowning-in-the-bath scene, which I ripped off _Constantine_… Ah, well, it's all DC…); **Kougraness **(good heavens, so many _questions_, dude…! Well, a few of them will be answered in this chapter; others… you'll have to wait! Mwa ha! I mean, telling you if Slade will die, if Terra will become good, if Seth will die and what he wants…? That's what _Remember the Titans_ is for! One thing I _will_ answer: Titans East won't be joining us, as they are not yet formed. This fic is set in Season Two); and **Seductive Angel** (more drama, and you seem to be enjoying it, my friend! Yeah, you got your Discovery Channel right here, mating demons all the way… And Superman vs. Seth? I think that could be interesting… although Seth could just conjure up some kryptonite…).

**MORE **notes before we start (and this is a long chapter to make up for it); the description of Arella in this chapter is again the "classic" version from the 80s _New Teen Titans_ comics. Again, because Season Four hadn't been shown in Britain when I wrote _Black Magic_ last year, I used the comic book description. I _do_ know that the animated version looks very like her daughter; you are welcome to imagine her however you like. Animated, comic book, it doesn't matter…

And on the "Arella" front; this chapter's title of _Messenger Angel_ can apply to any of three characters; Arella (whose name is allegedly Azarathian for "messenger angel"; ironically, her _real_ name of Angela actually really _does_ mean "messenger angel"), Robin (you will see why), and another character who only shows up in this chapter (again for reasons you will see).

Anyway, for Narroch06; and everyone who was concerned about Arella…

Messenger Angel

Trying not to panic, Raven stopped in a corridor and leaned against the wall, attempting to catch her breath. She was exhausted from alternating between travelling by her Soul Self and flat out running, desperately searching the Senate House for Arella Roth.

So far, she had found nothing. Not a trace.

And she was beginning to grow very afraid for her mother's life.

Jonathon Vaughan had been murdered. Seth Elliott was his murderer. Seth had now disappeared—

But so had Arella.

So had Seth…?

She felt an insane hatred well inside her and fought it back down – she could not lose control over this.

Hatred was something that she was not supposed to feel.

But then, neither was _love_.

And that was what she felt right now, right? Her love for her mother was what was making her search so strickenly for her…

And her love for her that was making her so terrified – she was not all that close to Arella, simply because they had never been _allowed_ to truly bond. The infant Raven had been taken from her mother and brought up by the monks and priestesses of Azarath, under the watchful eye of the Senate.

Arella had never had even an ounce of control over her daughter.

She had been raped by Trigon to spawn her; and had gone through inhuman _agony_ giving birth to her.

But she still _loved_ her.

And _Raven_ loved _her_.

And if Seth had _hurt_ her…

Taking a deep breath and pulling up her hood, Raven stepped out into the corridor; beginning to tread slowly down it, her head bowed.

There _had_ to be somewhere she hadn't looked. Arella _had_ to—

She heard the pounding footsteps and looked up just in time to see Robin – wide-eyed – before he smacked into her and sent them both careening to the marble floor in a tangle.

Sitting up with a groan, she irritably kicked him off and rounded on him angrily.

"What are you _doing_?" She snapped. "Running around like a lunatic? What did you steal now?"

"I don't _steal_…" Robin moaned, disentangling himself from her cloak. "I collect evidence…"

"You steal things and put them in the Evidence Room."

"_Agh_…" He rubbed his head and blinked at her. "I was running because I was looking for _you_…"

"Why?" She rose, wrenching up her hood again. "I don't have time right now. I'm looking for—"

"Your mother?"

She whipped around to face him, her violet eyes wide; he was kneeling, looking up at her and biting his lip worriedly, and she noticed that he wasn't wearing his cape.

"How did you…?"

"Because…" Robin stood and brushed his soft hair back from his masked eyes. "…_I_ just found her."

**TT**

"Robin, _why_ is she down here?" Raven demanded, pulling on the back of his red shirt.

"How am _I_ supposed to know?" He muttered. "I didn't put her here…"

"Why were you even _down_ here?"

"In the sacrificial chambers?" Robin looked over at his shoulder at her. "Just looking for evidence… oh, I mean, things to steal, of course…"

"I'm sorry, I just…" She sighed. "I'm so scared about her. She's… alive?"

"Yeah, but…" He looked away again. "She's hurt. That's why I was running to find you. I can't do anything, but you can heal her."

Raven grasped at his glove.

"_How_ is she hurt?"

"There was a… knife… through her shoulder…"

"_Why_ didn't you take it out then?" Raven snapped at him. Robin pulled his arm back irritably.

"I did," he spat back. "I'm not that dumb, Raven. I stemmed the blood flow with my cape and then came to get you…"

He shoved open another door, leading her through chamber after chamber – all identical, with stone altars and flaming torches in brackets. They were half-running, but Raven wasn't feeling too great, to put it mildly, and kept lagging behind despite her desperation to get to her mother.

"Here." They came to the entrance of the last sacrificial chamber; and as he pushed back the door she slipped one of her hands into his. He squeezed it reassuringly and led her in.

Arella was lying on her back on the altar, her eyes closed, her silky long cascade of black hair fanning out underneath her on the stone. In a red dress with a gold neckplate, belt and gauntlets, and with a long matching red cloak, it was difficult to see the blood on her – that, and the fact that Robin had indeed stemmed the blood from the wound with his black and yellow cape.

Raven pulled her hand from Robin's and ran to the altar, kneeling over her mother. Pulling back Robin's cape, she looked at the wound. It was deep, going right the way through her shoulder, but it was clean.

Concentrating, she searched for her mother's aura. It was so weak that she could barely sense it, even being so close to her.

No wonder she had not been able to find it last night; as a mortal human, Arella's aura reading was considerably weaker than an Azarathian's anyway, and in _this_ state…

"Can you heal her?" Robin asked, coming up behind her.

"Yes." Raven put her hand to Arella's forehead and the woman opened her eyes.

"Raven?" She reached up for her and Raven took her hand.

"I'm here, mother…" She bit back tears. "I'm going to help you…"

"Raven… it was…" Arella groaned and her eyes closed again.

Raven bit her lip and pulled back her hood; and put her hands to the wound, summoning her powers of healing. The white magic flowed from her into the wound, pulling broken skin and sinew and muscles and veins and arteries back together. Sweat beaded on the young empath's forehead with the effort of it, and she gritted her teeth against the pain that formed in her own shoulder as she drew it from her mother into herself.

And then she took a deep breath and dispelled it from her.

Arella sat up with a deep gasp and Raven sighed with relief.

"She'll be okay?" Robin asked, coming right up behind her.

"Yes." She turned to him with a weak smile; and then gave him a quick hug. "I don't know whether you're a messenger angel or a bearer of bad news… but thankyou."

Robin shrugged as she released him.

"If you want to thank me, you could give me back my cape…"

Raven caught it up, used her telekinesis to remove the blood from the material, and tossed it to him.

"Wow, and I thought Alfred was good at removing stains…"

Raven turned back to her mother as Robin pulled his cape on over his head.

"Arella? You're… okay?" She asked tentatively.

"I will be fine, my child…" Arella put her hand to Raven's cheek fondly – there was a certain diffidence – almost _shyness_ – about the way they acted with one another; one which Raven wished was not there, because it was only proof of the never-truly-formed bond between them.

The real mother-daughter tie that was not _there_.

Raven smiled, savouring the feel of her mother's hand on her face, simply because… it was so rare.

Robin stood back, half-jealous and half-pitying.

Jealous because Raven had been able to save her mother when he had not been able to save his own; and pitying because at least _he_ had been allowed to _love_ his mother. She had hugged him and kissed him and sang him lullabies and read him stories.

Raven and Arella had never shared any of those things.

"Who did this to you, mother?" Raven asked in a low voice, brushing a strand of violet hair from her eyes.

She already knew.

"Seth Elliott." Arella's deep blue eyes were afraid. "Last night, he…"

Raven looked sideways at Robin, who had just sat down at the edge of the altar next to her; Robin shrugged amiably, mouthing "Seriously, what did you expect?".

"_What_ did he do?" Raven pressed, turning back to Arella.

"I was… with Jonathon," Arella replied cautiously. "We avoided the Senate meeting yesterday afternoon, and then we raided Seth's study for the ingredients for the spell to exorcise the demon from the Avenger's body…"

Raven shot another look at Robin; he blinked and smiled, surprised.

"Mother, Jonathon is dead," Raven told her with a sigh.

But Arella's answer surprised them both;

"I know."

"How do you know?" Robin asked abruptly, snapping to "Junior Sherlock Holmes" mode as though someone had flipped a switch in him.

Arella turned her gaze on him, her eyes large and unblinking.

Finally;

"Because I saw Seth murder him."

Both her daughter and the Avenger _stared_ at her, speechless.

"You… _saw_…?" Raven repeated weakly.

Arella nodded.

"Yes, I… last night, I went down to the Senate House Library. Jonathon said he wanted the Senate File to check some things and I wasn't sure he had gotten it, so I was going to go down and check, and if it was still there I would have taken it for him, but… as I went in I heard the sound of… _fighting_…"

"Jonathon and Seth?" Robin asked sharply.

"Yes." Arella nodded. "Jonathon looked as though he was about to win, but… Seth, he…"

"Tore his heart out." Raven squeezed her mother's hand. "It's okay, we know."

"Where were you while this was going on?" Robin inquired, folding his arms.

"Behind one of the stacks. I hid when I heard the noise."

"You didn't do anything to help Jonathon?"

Arella looked at him rather coldly.

"I am utterly powerless, Avenger. I have no way of defending myself against such power; I know nothing of even your martial arts." She shook her head. "No, I ran to get Marcus and the rest of the Senate."

"But you never got there," Raven acknowledged, an icy grip on her heart.

"No. I was only halfway down the corridor away from the library when Seth was suddenly in front of me."

"What happened?" Robin pressed, putting a hand on her shoulder. "What did he do to you? We need to know."

"I will tell you," Arella replied, "but first let me tell you _this_…"

Fear flashed in her eyes again.

"That man – if he is _even_ a man – is pure evil…"

**TT**

_Her heart pounding in a rhythm that matched her feet, Arella ran._

_Her long red silk cloak and her black wave of hair flew behind her as she did so, exerting all of her mortal strength to get as far away from the Senate House Library – and Seth Elliott – as quickly as possible._

_She had no Soul Self. She could not teleport. She could not levitate._

_She was human._

_So she simply had to run._

_But she could not run fast enough._

_Seth Elliott emerged from his shadowy Soul Self right in front of her, a horrible smirk on his face – not to mention the black glistening slime and the blood from the cut Jonathon had given him._

_Arella skidded to a halt, her scream escaping her. She turned, ready to flee in the other direction, but he grasped the back of her cloak and threw her up against the wall. She shrieked and slid to the floor, half unconscious._

_He reached down and pulled her up by her throat._

"_Spying on us, Angela?" He crooned mockingly._

_She opened her eyes and glared at him defiantly._

"_My name is **Arella**," she hissed at him._

_He cupped her face in his hand._

"_Of **course** it is…"_

_He slipped the Blade of Azar from his pocket, holding it by the hilt, wrapped in the red cloth. He waved it to and fro in front of her terrified face._

"_Come now, Angela," he whispered. "Don't be scared. I'm not going to kill you… not like Jonathon…"_

"_You won't get away with it," Arella spat. "Murder is a sin condemned above all by Azar, Seth…"_

_Seth laughed._

"_Azar is not **my** concern…" His bloody face twisted. "Now, be a good girl, and look after this for me…"_

_He thrust the blade through her left shoulder, pinning her to the wall; covering her mouth to quell her scream._

"_I'm sorry, dear, sweet, mortal Angela Roth…" His green eyes glittered maliciously. "I simply can't have you running to tell on me to Marcus, now **can** I? Not when I'm about to take my leave of this cursed place…"_

_He pulled the sagging Arella into his arms and picked her up, the knife still impaling her shoulder. And then his Soul Self enclosed around them both, and he frittered away the layers of time and space to place them both in the last of the sacrificial chambers, deep within the bowels of the Senate House._

_Arella was barely conscious, her teeth gritted against the agony of her shoulder. Seth unceremoniously threw her onto the altar, where she lay motionless._

"_You just stay there," he whispered. "I have some business to attend to… a little matter of soul-restoring…"_

_Arella forced herself to lift her head._

"_You… the Avenger…"_

_Seth chuckled dryly._

"_Who else?" He produced the shimmering red wisp that wriggled in his hand. "And there they are, thinking his poor soul has been devoured… We wouldn't want **that**, would we? That would be such a **waste**…"_

_He laughed again._

"_No, little Robin will have his soul back, and he will return home with his friends." He cocked his head. "It's a pity Jonathon died before I got the chance to tell **him** that it was **I** who removed the boy's soul… I would so loved to have seen the look on his smug little face."_

_His smirk darkened._

"_But here is something I may tell **you**, Angela…" He leaned into her. "…She will be **mine**…"_

"_She…?" Arella's eyes widened. "Please, Seth… do not hurt my daughter…!"_

_Seth straightened and began to walk away, leaving Arella sobbing and bleeding on the altar behind him._

"_**Hurt** her?" He muttered to himself._

_He smiled._

"_I wouldn't **dream** of it…"_

**TT**

"That… _evil_…" Raven clenched her fists. "How can one trained under Azar's way do these things?"

Robin stood up.

"Some people are just evil," he muttered. He shrugged. "Some misguided. Some misunderstood. Some tainted. Some greedy for power or wealth…" He folded his arms. "And some are simply _evil_."

"I will not allow him to hurt you again, mother," Raven said fiercely.

"Raven, my child…" Arella's eyes filled with tears that she did not allow to fall. "…It is not _myself_ that I worry for. If Seth had wanted to kill me, he would have done so last night."

She drew her daughter close, defying the prohibition of such motherly actions by the laws of the Senate.

"I worry for _you_," she whispered. "He said… that you would be _his_… I don't know what he…"

Raven looked at her palms; and then looked up at her mother, her violet eyes huge and fearful.

"Perhaps… he works for… _him_…"

Arella shivered.

"He will be stopped. He will not harm you. He will not _take_ you."

"The prophecy… _my_ prophecy—"

"_Shh_…"

The frightened young empath curled against her mother; seemingly forgetting that Robin was even still there.

He shifted, kicked at the altar, and then eventually averted his eyes and looked around the chamber instead, almost feeling as though he was committing voyeurism upon them.

His brain was beginning to hurt; everything was simply becoming so confusing.

_What_ was Seth up to?

He had stolen Robin's soul and then put it back; murdered Jonathon; taken out Arella; and then disappeared, vowing that Raven would be his.

But what did he _want_ with her?

Robin's eyes fell on the knife he had removed from Arella's shoulder in a panic; he had thrown it aside in his hurry to stop the blood and find Raven. He slipped over to it now and picked it up.

It was beautiful; a knife created for a warrior. It was ornate – with a dragon adorning the hilt and lettering that he assumed was Azarathian up the length of the blade. But he did not admire the design – he admired the skill with which it had been forged. It was perfect in the way it fell into his hand, the hilt not awkward like a lot of fighter's knives he had come across. It had been _designed_ to be held and used. The blade itself was at a perfect angle, so that one quick thrust or a snap of the wrist would send it plunging right into its target.

Silver and ruby. He held the Blood Diamond against the knife and was surprised by how similar they looked.

Maybe forged by the same order?

He wiped Arella's blood from the blade with his cape and looked at his reflection in it. It looked a little surprised, as though wondering why its caster was holding such a lethal weapon.

His mind ticking, he thought about Arella's recounting of Seth's attack on her.

She had said he had been holding it… wrapped in a cloth.

Did that mean… that Seth couldn't _touch_ it?

His reflection smirked – and that was because _he_ was casting it.

"Robin!"

He looked up; Raven was at the door of the chamber, Arella with her hand on her daughter's shoulder.

He hadn't even seen them leave the altar.

Raven nodded to him.

"Come on, let's get out of here…"

"Sounds like a plan," Robin agreed, going after them.

Raven turned away and walked out ahead with Arella.

Robin slipped the knife into the back of his belt.

**TT**

The Boy Wonder was greeted with an enthusiastic welcome from his other team-mates as soon as he entered the lounge room; Starfire, Cyborg and Beast Boy all pounced on him, sending him crashing to the floor beneath them.

"Dude, you're normal again!" Beast Boy yelled.

"Aw yeah, that demon is _way_ outta here!" Cyborg added cheerfully.

"_ROBIN!_" Starfire squealed, hugging him so tightly she cut off his air supply.

His first thought was to irritably push them all off; but then he realised how worried they had been about him, and remembered all that they had done for him, and…

"Thanks, guys…"

He smiled and Starfire "initiated the Group Hug"; only Raven managed to escape, and that was only because she wasn't in the room. She had gone back to Marcus' study with Arella so that they could a.) inform him that Arella wasn't dead; and b.) be interrogated by him.

"We missed you, lil' buddy," Cyborg said, giving Robin a friendly noogie.

"Dude, what's with your hair?" Beast Boy asked, blinking.

Robin looked up; and then grinned at the natural side-parting his black hair had been combed into.

"Hair gel combined with demonic possession is apparently a big no-no…"

"You know, I was kinda getting used to the wings," Cyborg said.

Robin shivered.

"Well, I'm just glad to be normal again…"

"Oh, yes!" Starfire agreed enthusiastically. "When I became normal again after my Transformation, I was most jubilant! When we returned home from that nasty cold planet with the chrysalis-eating spider on it who was going to eat me until you, my friends, showed up and saved me, I went up to the roof and sang the ancient Tamaranean song of Joyful Serendipity!"

"Yeah, we know, Star," Robin said dryly.

"We heard you," Beast Boy added.

"And so did half the neighbourhood," Cyborg finished coolly.

Starfire beamed.

"Perhaps then you would like to join me in singing it now, on Robin's behalf?"

"You know, Star, although it's very kind of you to offer," Robin cut in with a nervous little laugh, "maybe we should just skip it. It's got, like, two thousand verses or something, right?"

Starfire pursed her lips.

"Three-thousand-four-hundred-and-seventy-one," she rattled off reproachfully.

"Ah." Robin tugged at his collar. "My bad. Sorry."

Starfire smiled again and petted his hair fondly.

"You are forgiven…"

Robin looked blankly at her.

"Star, um…Why are you petting my head?"

Cyborg snatched her hand off and led her away, muttering something in her ear; and Robin turned his piercing, inquisitive gaze on Beast Boy. The little green changeling laughed timorously and scratched one of his ears.

"You know, she's just kinda hungry 'cause we skipped breakfast so she's just light-headed and totally wacky, heh-heh…" He fired off quickly, laughing again at the end of the sentence, slowly trailing off. "…_Heh_…"

Robin didn't look convinced, but didn't get a chance to grill Beast Boy as the doors to the lounge room suddenly opened and Raven entered.

"Ray!" Cyborg greeted her with a grin.

Raven didn't smile.

"Robin, you're wanted," she said curtly. "Marcus is calling another meeting. He wants you there."

Robin stood; and then looked at the other three Titans.

_They_ were the mortal gods.

It was time to bring them into the light.

"We'll _all_ go," he said firmly.

Raven nodded and gestured for them to follow her.

Beast Boy snatched up a chunk of mango on the way out of the room.

"You know, I'm gonna miss this place…"

"Why?" Cyborg asked flatly. "You've been complaining for the past three days that there's no TV…"

"Oh, yeah…" Beast Boy's eyes widened and he nodded. "_Duh_…"

**TT**

"I am afraid that dark times are upon us," Marcus Vandiver said, his voice sad and resonating throughout the entire Council Room.

He now sat in the chair that had been Seth Elliott's, having been automatically elevated, as Vice-Head Senator, to Seth's higher position. The rest of the senators all sat in their normal seats – only two were empty.

Marcus' own, as he had now moved.

And Jonathon's.

The five Teen Titans stood before the semi-circle of chairs, Starfire, Cyborg and Beast Boy behind Robin and Raven.

"Tragedy has befallen the Senate House," Marcus went on. "One of our own has been murdered, another threatened and injured; and both of these maladies have been committed by one whom we have always put our trust in. But it is true, and we must not hide from the terrible fact that Seth Elliott has betrayed us, most probably for his own gains."

Marcus gripped the arms of the ornate chair he had recently gained.

"It is not clear what these gains may be – we are ignorant of his motives, and I believe that this is precisely what he desires. He has controlled and manipulated us all, exploiting our trust in him; the only person who never fell for his charms is the person lost to us." Marcus paused for a few moments before going on. "Jonathon Vaughan was murdered by Seth Elliott, and I can only presume that the reason was because Jonathon did not trust him as we did. Seth also committed vicious physical assault upon Arella Roth, but she is, thank Azar, still with us, due to her daughter and the Avenger."

Arella stood and spoke;

"I thank my daughter and her friend most profusely for their help," she said warmly, "but yet even my welfare is unimportant right now. Seth Elliott has fled Azarath for reasons unknown, and he must be found and stopped. We must not allow him to harm anyone else."

The other senators all nodded in agreement and Raven inconspicuously gripped at Robin's sleeve.

Arella sat down again and Marcus nodded his thanks for her input.

"It pains me that we may have to defy Azar's way when we find Seth," he said softly. "As a pacifistic world, we do not practice the slaying of others. However, we cannot allow Jonathon to be only the first in a whole _string_ of victims. If killing Seth and being condemned by Azar is the price we must pay to stop him from achieving his goal, then it _will_ be paid."

Again, the other senators nodded in agreement. They weren't very talkative; dismayed and devastated by the bloody murder that had been thrust at them.

The murder of one of their own.

_By_ one of their own.

"Well, as our number has dwindled by two so abruptly," Marcus said heavily, "I have had to call upon new members. At the moment, only one suitable candidate is available. She will be with us momentarily. As for the position of Vice-Head Senator…" He looked over at Arella. "If she will accept the position, I would like to offer it to Arella Roth."

Arella stood, a very faint smile on her face and crossed to the empty chair.

"Although I believe as much as everyone else here that this position should rightfully be Jonathon Vaughan's, I accept," she said graciously, sitting. "I only hope that I serve you well."

"You will," Marcus replied, his voice sad. "As for Jonathon… there is no doubt that he would have handled the position well, but circumstances have stated otherwise…"

The door opened and the Teen Titans all turned towards it automatically.

"Only our newest member," Marcus said jadedly. "Please, come in, Cordelia."

A young woman entered the room and closed the door behind her. She wore long red robes that were faintly Japanese-looking, with black details and silken interior. Her skin was lily-white, her hair was long and fine and straight down her back, raven-coloured and shiny, with a straight fringe across her forehead, and her eyes were large, thick-lashed and green.

She was rather fragile and waif-like, but the Titans knew just from looking at _Starfire_ that looks could be deceiving.

The beautiful, emerald-eyed, honey-skinned alien princess was quite possibly the strongest of them all.

"May I present to you our newest Senator, Cordelia Silver," Marcus introduced her. "I have called upon her especially at this time to aid us, as she possesses a prophetic ability that may be useful to us in our waging of war against Seth Elliott."

Cordelia Silver bowed low in front of the semi-circle of Senators, the ascended to join them, drifting towards Jonathon's empty seat.

"Ah, Cordelia…" Marcus pointed to Arella's recently-vacated chair. "If you could take Arella Roth's chair…"

The young woman nodded and changed direction.

Robin and Raven exchanged glances. Why hadn't Marcus wanted her to take Jonathon's seat? Simply because he was _dead_?

But _someone_ would take it eventually, wouldn't they?

Cordelia offered everyone a shy little smile and then bowed her head, her long black hair falling like a curtain into her lap.

Robin gazed long and hard at her, but she didn't look up again. She was beautiful, in a kind of… Japanese/vampire/dead sort of way…

She kind of gave him the creeps, actually; she looked like a ghost, and when she walked, she kind of… _glided_…

He caught Raven's eye again; she too was studying Cordelia Silver long and hard, as though assessing her.

By the expression on Raven's pale face, Robin guessed that the "new girl" wasn't getting a 10/10 so far…

"I think that this may end here," Marcus said finally. "I have nothing more to say. Details of… Jonathon's funeral will be sorted out soon, I should hope. Otherwise, this meeting is over. I only wish to offer once more my congratulations to Arella Roth on her new position, my welcome to our newest member Cordelia Silver; and place the blessing of Azar's protection upon the Teen Titans." He actually managed a smile. "Considering the circumstances, it has been a pleasure to have you here. I only hope that the events of this morning have not deterred you from our civilisation…"

Beast Boy grinned and Cyborg smiled.

"Truly, we have been greatly honoured by your generosity and hospitality," Starfire said warmly, stepping up beside Raven and Robin. "You have a beautiful world and an admirable way of life. You are right to fight for its preservation."

"Well said, Star," Cyborg muttered, putting a hand on the alien girl's shoulder.

Marcus smiled too.

"Well said indeed. You words mean a lot to us." He turned to Robin and Raven. "Robin, I apologise that we were unable to directly help you ourselves, but I express my delight now that you are restored to normal."

Robin's smile was half-genuine, half-dry.

"Oh, I'm sure there will be something else wrong with me by this time next week," he said, the joke weak because it could well be true.

"Let us hope not, not when the responsibility of the Avenger rests on your shoulders," Arella said softly.

Robin sighed.

"Yeah, wouldn't want to forget about _that_, huh?"

The Teen Titans drew closer around him, as though in answer to Marcus' next words;

"With the help of your friends – your mortal gods – and with us working on the other side, you will prevail. The prophecy may have stated that you alone can save the world, but you are not alone."

Marcus looked long and hard at him, his indigo eyes deep pools of sadness fused with determination.

"You will _never_ be alone…"

**TT**

Ironically, he _was_ alone when Cordelia Silver came to him with her message…

Raven had requested that they clear up the rooms they had respectively been given during their stay in Azarath. It wasn't a difficult task, as they had nothing to pack, and were due to all meet up in the lounge room in ten minutes so that Raven could open the portal to take them all back home.

Robin whistled tunelessly as he tidied up – trilling like the little bird he took his name from; pulling the sheets straight and smoothing them out, he straightened up to look around the room.

All tidy.

He grinned when he thought of the shoddy job Beast Boy would probably do – Beast Boy's idea of "tidying up" was shoving everything under his bed and into his closet.

Robin went out to the sunny balcony to look out over the glittering lake one last time, taking an apple from the bowl on his way past and shining it up absently on the front of his shirt.

He neither saw nor heard the door open.

He leaned over the balcony and took a bite out of his apple, savouring the taste of its sweet flesh. He cast his gaze out over the beautiful blue lake, feeling a little kick of guilt somewhere in the pit of his belly when he saw the tiny island on which he and Raven…

Where he had _hurt_ her.

He paused; stiffened imperceptibly. His sharp senses picked up on—

His fighter's instinct snapped into action and he whipped around, breaking his staff from his belt and extending it during the one fluid movement.

Cordelia Silver found herself with the end of the staff two centimetres from her throat; she put her hands up in surrender, looking very alarmed.

Robin held her there for a second or two longer; then lowered his staff.

"I'm sorry," he said, putting it away again.

She nodded, and then spoke;

"I understand. I suppose none of us can be too careful now, what with Jonathon Vaughan's murder only this morning…" She smiled faintly. "I am glad you are so cautious."

Robin raised his eyebrows. There was something about her that seriously wigged him out…

"Look, I have to leave in a few minutes," he said finally, "so… is there anything in particular you wanted?"

She nodded slowly.

"Yes. I have a message for you."

"_From_…?"

"From the all-knowing powers that channel through me," Cordelia explained, her voice wispy. "My visions and dreams… I was born with an ability to communicate with the higher powers. They send me warnings, or visions, or messages for certain people."

She looked at him, her green eyes unblinking.

"And I have one for _you_," she went on. "For the _Avenger_."

"Okay, let me get some paper and a pen," Robin said, starting past her.

"No." She grasped his shoulder and turned him around again. "My message cannot be written down."

"You expect me to memorise it?" Robin barbed.

"No," she said again. "I must pass it on to you…"

"O…_kay_…" He laughed nervously as her hands went loosely around his neck. "Does this involve you choking me?"

"No," she said a third time. "Not if you refrain from struggling."

He scowled at her.

"Then why… your hands…"

He started trying to pry them off and she tightened her grip.

"Please do not struggle. The way I pass on my messages is not pleasant. This is insurance – if you struggle, I will choke you to make you stop…"

He pulled at her hands again.

"You know, I don't think I _want_ this message…"

She smiled oddly.

"No-one ever _does_, Avenger…"

Her face came towards his and he tried to back away, stopped by her grip on his throat. Her mouth opened slightly and he saw her tongue – glistening coils in the darkness of her mouth. Not a normal tongue—

One hand moved from his neck to the back of his head and rammed it forward so that his mouth connected with hers; her tongue flickered against his lips and he opened his mouth in shock, almost against his will…

Her tongue flashed into his mouth – long, thin and slimy, like a ribbon – and slipped down inside his throat; an obscene imposition, intimate and raping. Her tongue thrust deep down within him and he gagged and choked on it, one hand reaching for her one at his neck, the other falling to his side and dropping the apple to the floor.

He could feel it in his mouth and his throat – making him gag – but felt it no more beyond that. Where was the end of it? In his stomach? Or—

A sudden splitting pain burst into his skull, cutting off his half-conscious conjectures; it felt as though someone was hammering a nine-inch nail into each of his temples. He tried to scream, choked on her tongue; he sagged in her grip and she held him up by his throat and his hair.

His vision blacked even though his eyes were still open, as though he had suddenly gone blind. And then, something _else_…

Visions?

Something… images so fast he couldn't make sense of them, everything and nothing all at once.

Fire.

Blood.

Black skies.

He saw Slade.

Terra.

Batman.

Seth Elliott.

Four ruby red eyes.

He heard laughing, aching inside his skull as though it wanted to burst out and echo around the room.

He saw Cyborg.

Beast Boy.

Starfire.

_Raven_.

Her eyes—

The Blood Diamond.

The Orb of Azarath.

Destruction.

Ruin.

And then white light flashed before his eyes and he saw nothing more.

Only heard…

"_No-one may run from their destiny_…"

The pain stopped. He felt her tongue whip back out of his throat—

And then he was on the floor of the balcony.

He knelt up and coughed and blood spattered onto the white marble. He was aware of a dull, stinging ache at his left wrist, but thought little of it as he lifted his head to glare up at her.

But she was gone.

Groaning, he used the balcony rail to haul himself up.

_For Pete's sake, do I have some kind of **sign** on my back?_ He griped to himself. _Some kind of tattoo across my forehead? "Put me through hell; you know I'm good for it,"?…_

He picked up his apple and staggered back into the room; he threw it into the trash and went to the bathroom to get a cloth to wipe up the blood. He found one and went back to the balcony to mop it up. There wasn't very much of it, and it didn't really worry him.

What worried him more was what he had _seen_.

The headache was gone, as though it had never even existed; and his sight was normal again.

But he could not forget what he had _seen_.

It hadn't made sense; and he hadn't seen anything particularly enlightening.

But it scared him all the same.

The ache at his wrist was niggling him now; setting the cloth aside, he peeled back his emerald glove to take a look. Perhaps a little cut, or…

He stared at his wrist.

It _was_ a cut.

But not just any cut.

Scraped into the pale, near-translucent skin of his wrist – as though it had been done clumsily with a needle or pin, the way that a kid carves their initials into their school desk…

…was a stark, bloody capital "A".

**TT**

(The dividing lines still aren't working...)

In the words of Lewis Carroll; "Curiouser and curiouser…"

Just what ride am I taking you on _now_?

Any fans of _Inu Yasha_… Kikyo came into my head when I was describing Cordelia Silver, so that should give you a vague of idea of what she looks like… kind of…

Anyway, people, there are three chapters to go until _Remember the Titans_. We are on 146 reviews. Can we hit 400 for the Grand Finale? C'mon, we're all in this together! Be part of the crew; leave a review!

See, I have a rhyming jingle and everything…

Next: _Telling Robin._

Telling him _what_? I think y'all already know…

Congrats to Narroch06 a.k.a College Girl!

'Til next time!

- RobinRocks xXx


	34. Telling Robin

Well, I admit that the previous chapter was designed to throw you all for a loop… But we're getting "back to normal" now…

Because in _this_ chapter Robin gets some "wonderful" news dumped on his head.

This chapter is dedicated to **Seductive Angel**, as today, Thursday 24th August, is her birthday! A very happy birthday to you!

And to everyone else who reviewed: **Heathen Requiem **(I am glad you like this so much and find it inspiring!);** Quinn and His Quill **(what would I do without you correcting me at every turn? Well, perhaps I wouldn't feel like such a failure… Watch your mouth, or I'll hex you! And although I believe that you are somehow trying to trick me into giving something away, I don't believe I said anywhere that the baby was a girl… Oh, and Charon is doing what I refer to as "A Frodo" – it means he keeps almost-but-not-quite-dying. Robin also pulls a lot of these, particularly in _Remember the Titans_…); **Raven Victoria Grayson **(yes, Cordelia Silver – a character who creates questions rather than answering them…); **Me **(Seth more powerful than Trigon? That's an answer you will have to wait for… The "A"? you are right, my friend!); **Crazy Insomniac **(gotta love the Robin-torture-factor… And yes! You were right, and the only person who guessed so!); **YamiTai **(oh, there's always something wrong with Robin… that hypochondriac… Um, well, I kinda imagined Cordelia to look like Kikyo but I guess she kinda does act a little like her… the dead version, anyway…); **Kami Elf **(the reviewer who cited Robin as a "SUPERWHORE" would be Quinn and His Quill, and he is right, of course. _I_ am notorious for calling poor Robin a slut… Well, there won't be any more of Robin getting beaten up in _Black Magic_, but stick around for _Remember the Titans_ for a "Robin Near-Slaughterfest"… I think you will enjoy it…); **Aaml4everFC **(nice to have you along! I am glad you like it so much and thankyou very much for the compliments! Hope to hear from you again!); **Simmie **(thankyou for all the reviews! Another new reader/reviewer – I seem to be picking up a lot of you guys lately and I am so happy!I am glad you watched Coolteenzz's _Black Magic/Ghost Love Score_ video – it's awesome, isn't it? And what does Seth want with Raven? You will find out soon enough…); **Narroch06 **(aw, yeah, the Raven/Arella relationship… There probably are already fics of that nature on the site if you type their names into the character filter. Nice try, though… ;) Oh, and Cordelia… as above, she doesn't answer any questions, does she? And everything is pie with you… you're like Cyborg…); **Rocky-White Wolf of Curses **(I don't know why the dividing lines are busted either… it's weird… Hope your co-writing with your friend goes well!); **Kougraness** (yes no Titans East for you, I'm afraid, although Speedy will eventually put in an appearance… That's Season Two for ya…); and **everyone else** who will no doubt turn up eventually: **Poison's Ivy**, **Seductive** **Angel**, **Azar the Kinslayer**, **Peace 215**, **Daybreak25**, **Phoenix Skyborne**, **Coolteenzz**,** BeautifulNightmare16**,** TheLon3Wolf8986**, **everyone else**…

You're all around here somewhere…

For **Seductive Angel**; happy birthday!

Telling Robin 

Raven sat on the edge of her bed, with only a single thick candle at her bedside giving dim, flickering light to the room. It was very late, and she was in her nightgown and black satin bathrobe, but despite the heat of the night, she was shivering.

She had been sick three more times that day, after arriving back at Titans Tower that morning with the others in tow, and as upset about Jonathon Vaughan as she was, she doubted that it was the senator's brutal murder that was doing this to her. Robin had been stalking her all day asking if she was alright, and eventually she had taken the kamikaze way out by asking Starfire if she wanted to go to the mall. Understandably he hadn't followed.

But it wasn't just an excuse to escape Robin; after all, she could have gone anywhere to get away from him, like her favourite café. But his words kept coming back to her, his apology that _he_ had done this to her; she was starting to think he _had_. But it wasn't anything demonic she was worried about; what she suspected was something that Robin had done himself, without any kind of demonic influence.

The same thing _any_ boy could do to her.

And the dream… his vision… They echoed in her mind, despite her trying to shut them out, until she began to grow really afraid. In his mind she had seen herself pregnant – and then the same thing had shown up in her own dream. And although she had maybe dismissed those things then as being symbolic of change and prophecy…

She was beginning to think that maybe there was some _truth_ to it.

And, scared as she was, she simply _had_ to know.

So she had traipsed to the mall with Starfire, left the alien girl browsing in her favourite pink-and-fluffy store and sneaked off to the drugstore to make her purchase; the evil look from beneath the hood had been enough to give the checkout girl second thoughts about asking questions. Then she had found Starfire again, acted as though nothing had happened – in fact the Tamaranean girl hadn't noticed her telekinetic friend's absence – and returned home to shove the thing into her drawer where she could forget about it until that night. Better to do it when everyone else was asleep, including Robin…

She couldn't bring herself to look at it, having now done it. Truthfully she was too scared to; she didn't know why. Why should she be scared? Because… she knew already. She didn't know how, but somehow she just _knew_. She didn't need to look at the little test clutched in her shaking fingers. Not that she could bring herself to…

She needed to talk to Robin anyway. There were still things they needed to discuss; moreover, what the hell was going on. It was times like these that she was infinitely glad to be friends with him; he said and did dumb things sometimes, but when it came right down to it, he was smart and level-headed – a true detective at heart, and trained by the best in that field. She needed to run over things with him, the way that she and her mother had done with Marcus Vandiver that morning. And those things went as; the Vice-Head Senator was _Vice_-Head no more. He was overall Head Senator now, with Raven's own mother, Arella, filling his previous place as Vice-Head.

Why?

Because Seth had done a bunk. Marcus and the other senators were all back to normal, free of whatever influence Seth had had over them. And Seth himself had cleared right out of Azarath; there was absolutely no trace of him anywhere throughout the whole of Azarath. He'd killed Jonathon, attacked Arella and fled. Raven knew that entire Senate, even without Jonathon, was formidable, and in a face-off Seth would definitely come off the worst, but it didn't seem like Seth's style – he was very upfront about things – and running away had surprised them all.

But it was true – Seth Elliott was gone.

He was up to something _big_, and he hadn't upped and left because he thought he'd make life easy for the Senate and the Teen Titans while they sorted out the prophecy and Jonathon's murder. Maybe what Seth was planning had something to do with the prophecy and the Orb of Azarath, maybe it didn't, but one thing was for sure; the Azarathian Senate hadn't heard the last of Seth Elliott, and neither had the Teen Titans.

Raven looked up at the ceiling, running her fingers over the long, thin plastic test, willing herself to look at it. She already knew what it said, but still she couldn't look at it. Maybe it was something to do with being telepathic, but she could almost _feel_ it, sense it within her.

She threw the test to the floor and sighed, flopping back onto her made bed and closing her violet eyes. She didn't need to look at it, because she knew. She had never, ever thought that this would happen to her, and after what had happened to her mother, only seventeen years old herself, she had _vowed_ it wouldn't happen to her.

But it had.

She was pregnant.

She didn't know if it was anger or despair or what, but she couldn't seem to comprehend it. It didn't seem real, but she knew it was, and she knew how it had happened. She knew the very _second_ it had happened, because it had hurt her, and now she knew that it hadn't been _him_ that had hurt her; it had been her own demonic half responding to Robin's climax, because Robin, despite having been possessed by a demonic being at the time, was still human, while she was only _half_ human.

So what would that make their child? A quarter demon? Or… three quarters, if his demonic possession counted. Would that make a difference? Had he impregnated her with… with some kind of _monster?_

The thought made her feel weak inside, but not just the thought of carrying some half-breed monster; it was the thought that she was carrying _anything at all_. But she was; she was carrying Dick Grayson's child, even though it was far from obvious.

Yet.

The dream. The vision… Did that mean everything _else_ was going to come true as well?

Other panicky thoughts buzzed like angry hornets in her head too. What was she going to do? Should they tell the others? And even if they did, how would they keep it a secret from the outside world? If the newspapers found out she was pregnant they'd have a field day, because she was only 16 and because the Teen Titans were supposed to be clean goody-two-shoes teenaged superheroes and because of all people, it was _Robin's_ baby she was carrying, and "_oh dear me_, I never would have thought it of Batman's sidekick…" and then the _Gotham_ papers would jump on the bandwagon and Robin's daring, righteous reputation would be annihilated and as Batman's ex-sidekick and leader of the Teen Titans probably _all_ young superheroes would get tarred with the same brush because if _Batman's_ well-behaved partner can't keep his pants on for five minutes, the _rest_ of them can't be any better, and if Bruce found out then he would _kill_ Robin, and then her baby would be fatherless…

There wasn't any way she could hide it. It wouldn't show for the first three or four months, but after that…

A worse thought crossed her mind. What if Robin didn't want to know? What if he wanted her to get rid of it? Or what if she refused, and he kicked her out of the team?

No, she knew she was being silly; Robin, for all his faults, wasn't like that. He might not welcome the news, but he was responsible enough to realise that it wasn't just going to go away if he ignored it, and likewise he wouldn't kick her out when it was sort of his fault in the first place. But still, it worried her. It was _his_ child she carried, true, but he could not possibly feel the same way about it as _she_ did. Even as she was struggling to comprehend it, she still felt an overwhelming surge of protectiveness towards it. It was _her_ baby too, and it was inside _her_, and she knew within her heart that she could never even _consider_ an abortion. If her mother, Arella, had given birth to _her_, the product of rape by the demon Trigon, then surely _she_ could have _this_ baby, the child of Robin, her friend… And at least _this_ baby would be loved, not brought up under the strict supervision of the Azarathian Senate, prohibited to be loved or even touched by its own mother…

Yes, she wanted it. But she still didn't know what she was going to do about it.

She supposed the first thing to do would be to tell Robin. She didn't know how he was going to take it, but she figured the sooner she told him the better, and seeing as the others were asleep, she should probably wake him and tell him now, so that there was no danger of being overheard.

She sat up, shook her head, then got to her feet and made for the door. She slipped out into the dark corridor and levitated across the hallway to Robin closed metal panel. She entered the way she entered all of his rooms; sinking through the door. She landed and tugged the cord of her silk robe a little tighter, the gesture giving her some kind of comfort.

She couldn't see too much, so used her telekinesis to flick on the lamp on his desk. It lit up the room dully as she crossed the cold metal floor to his bed at the far end of the plain room. It was still looking worse for wear from his temper tantrum last week following the incident at Arkham Asylum when he had trashed it in a fit of rage. But she ignored the surroundings, the metal walls now looking strange without all of the newspaper cuttings plastered on them, making for his bed.

She found him curled up with his back to her, sleeping soundly and clutching at his pillow with one hand. It was a hot night and in truth she had expected him to be topless, but strangely he was in winter pyjamas; long-sleeved, made of a grey sweatshirt material with a single black stripe down each of the arms and legs.

The Blood Diamond was still around his neck.

And poking from beneath the cuff of his left sleeve, she saw a plaster on his wrist.

He knew nothing of either his own "dream"; or of hers.

She decided to keep that part to herself for now, until she was quite sure of its meaning.

He looked so peaceful, but that didn't deter her from roughly shaking him awake; why should _he_ sleep so carelessly when he was the one who had gotten her pregnant?…

"Just five more minutes, Alfred…" he murmured half-consciously, shrugging her off without opening his masked eyes. She tried again, harder, and he grudgingly opened his eyes and sat up.

"I've had a hard night fighting crime, Alfred…" he said grouchily, still clearly not entirely awake.

"No you haven't," Raven corrected him snippily. "You went to bed an hour ago after playing _Twister_ with Cyborg and kicking his butt, and I've got to agree with him, Mr Former-Acrobat; it wasn't a fair game."

"Raven?" He asked, looking at her as though he thought he was still dreaming.

"Nice to see you're pleased to see me," Raven replied sarcastically. "Don't bust a gut or anything."

He scratched his messy dark hair sleepily.

"What do you want?" He questioned, shaking his head to try and wake himself up.

"You said we needed to talk, and _we do_."

Robin groaned and flopped back onto his mattress.

"You've been avoiding me _all day_ when you could have been talking to me, because I wasn't exactly _doing_ anything-"

"Except for stalking _me_."

"_Because_ you were _avoiding_ me. And _now_ you want to talk, when I'm _trying_ to _sleep!_"

"You were sleeping on the couch earlier; don't look at me like that, Robin. _I saw you_."

"I wasn't _sleeping!_" Robin said indignantly, now fully awake.

"Oh, right, you were just curled up in the corner of the couch snoring for the fun of it."

"I wasn't _snoring!_"

"But you were asleep?"

"I… well. Maybe. For five minutes. Maybe ten, but no more."

"Hmm." Raven eyed him sceptically, taking in his defiant expression, his ruffled hair and creased pyjamas. A typical 16 year old boy, and yet the father of her child.

Still, better Robin than Beast Boy. At least Robin's child would be intelligent; Beast Boy's would probably inherit its father's "sense of humour"…

"What do you want to talk about?" He asked, sitting up again and smoothing his hair.

"Well… you know… _things_," Raven said hopelessly.

"_Things_," Robin repeated flatly. "Well, what kind of _things_ would you like to talk about? Seth Elliott? Jonathon's murder? How Marcus managed to get promoted to Head Senator? Or perhaps the prophecy? We-"

"Robin, can we go downstairs?" Raven interrupted him softly. He blinked, the shrugged.

"Sure, if you want to."

"I do."

"Where do you want to go? The kitchen?"

"I… yes, alright."

She straightened up and he kicked off his covers and swung his legs over the edge of his mattress. He got up and followed her to the panel, sliding it back to exit instead of sinking through it as she did. She led the way down through the dark tower to the kitchen, flicking on the light as she entered. He shielded his masked eyes from the unwelcome bright light as he followed her and sat down at the kitchen table opposite her.

Silence.

"So…" Robin clasped his hands together on the table's surface, but didn't say anything else.

Raven raised her eyebrows at him.

"Uhh… so, where do you want to start?" Robin ventured after studying her for a few seconds. "Jonathon?"

Relieved, Raven nodded, thinking she could build up to springing on him that hey, guess what; he was going to be a daddy, and _Brucie_ was going to be a _grandfather_.

"They're going to bury him," she said.

"Where?"

"In the Senate House grounds."

"Are you going to go back for the funeral?"

Raven nodded, looking fixedly at him.

"You're welcome to come if you want to," she offered.

He shrugged, his expression sad.

"Don't like funerals much."

_His parents, of course… _

"Well, don't feel… you know, that you _have_ to, if it's going to upset you," Raven said.

He shrugged again, not speaking.

"Robin, I…"

He looked up again.

"What?"

"About Seth… disappearing…"

"What about it?"

Raven gave a sort of hopeless half-shrug.

Robin leaned back in his chair, tipping his head right back and looking at the ceiling.

"Robin?"

He didn't answer, but sat up straight again at the sound of his name.

"What do you think… that means?" Raven went on, desperate for him to say something.

He gazed at her for a very long time, his expression difficult to read.

"I don't know," he answered finally. "He's up to _something_, but I don't know what…"

"Oh." Raven rested her head on one hand, looking at him through hooded eyes. "Right. Well done."

"Raven, I don't know _everything_," Robin reasoned tonelessly. "I don't know what makes you think I _do_."

"Because you're such an infuriating know-it-all most of the time," Raven informed him innocently.

He leaned back again, folding his arms.

"Well, maybe. The point is, I don't have a _clue_ what Seth is up to, and neither do you, and neither does the Azarathian Senate, so he's probably got us all right where he wants us."

"Again with the morbid, Wonder Boy."

"It's a pretty morbid situation, Raven."

She could hardly contradict him there, because he was right.

"So… we let him get away with whatever he's up to?"

"By default," Robin agreed flatly.

"That's not a very good outlook coming from the leader of the Teen Titans."

"I'm not leader anymore. Cyborg is."

Raven blinked.

"It's official?" She asked. "When did you discuss it?"

"This afternoon, after you and Star went to the mall. He wasn't happy, but he agreed to take over until I want the position back."

"And do you _intend_ to take it back?"

"No."

Raven stared at him.

"Robin, what is the _matter_ with you lately?" She asked, genuinely perplexed. "I don't get you. You wouldn't help out all last week because you were sulking, and now you've thrown another tantrum and say you want to _quit_-"

"That was extreme, I admit. I'm not quitting. Well, not _yet_. I've got some things to get to the bottom of first. After that I might bail out, I don't know… The point is I don't want the responsibility of leader on top of everything _else_ I'm trying to handle. I have to stop Slade, and I'm not going to be around an awful lot because I'll be working leads and stuff, and I can't afford to have the team falling apart, so I put Cy in charge. Don't worry; I know he'll do as good a job as I did, probably better."

"I don't doubt Cyborg," Raven replied levelly. "I'm doubting _you_. I don't think you've thought this through, Robin."

"Beast Boy said that too, but trust me, Raven; _I have_."

Ok, so he probably _had_; she had to admit that he was speaking sense. If he was going to be busy, it was better to let Cyborg run things. No, what set off the alarm bells in her head was what he had said so casually; after he sorted out the prophecy case and whatever else, he might _bail out_…

Which meant he would leave.

For good.

And she was pregnant with his child.

Would he still go, even in the knowledge of that?…

"Robin, you _can't_ quit," Raven said desperately.

"Whoa, Raven," he said quickly, putting up both of his hands. "I haven't quit yet; I just resigned being leader. For now just think of me as one of the team."

"But…" Raven floundered, wanting to just say it straight out; "I'm pregnant, Robin; I'm carrying your child".

But she couldn't. She just couldn't say it.

His masked eyes narrowed ever so slightly as she trailed off helplessly.

"Raven, I get the feeling there was something else you wanted to talk about," he convicted, sounding a little more accusing than he had intended.

_Yes, there is; you got me pregnant, you moron! _

Raven merely blinked at him and said nothing.

"Well?" He drummed his fingers on the tabletop impatiently.

"Robin, don't."

He stopped but continued to watch her intently, making her feel uncomfortable.

She wished she hadn't woken him up now; this was the worst position she had ever been in, just sitting in the silent kitchen with him gazing at her, waiting for her to say the words that were going to shatter his world…

Stall him. She had to stall him somehow…

"Do you want a cup of coffee?" She asked abruptly, getting to her feet.

The question caught him off-guard.

"Oh… well, ok…"

He caught on as she flounced away towards the fridge to get the milk and stood up.

"Nice try, Raven," he muttered, going after her. He stood behind her as she collected two mugs from the sideboard, frightening her as she turned around and making her lose her grip on the mug in her right hand. He whipped out a hand and caught it effortlessly, handing it back to her silently. She flashed him a weak smile and tried to get past him, but he wouldn't get out of the way.

"Robin, _move_," Raven said irritably.

"Not until you tell me what you woke me up for," Robin countered.

"I did."

"No you didn't." Robin's eyes narrowed. "There's something else, Raven; I know there is."

"Some kind of mind-reader now, are you?" Raven asked waspishly, jostling him out of the way.

"Raven, _what_ are you afraid of?" Robin asked in exasperation, following her.

"Nothing," Raven replied airily, making a show of spooning coffee granules into one of the mugs and adding milk.

"There's _something_ up," Robin reasoned, coming up behind her.

"What makes you think that?" Raven went on in that light tone, filling the kettle and switching it to _boil_.

"Because you have _never_ offered to make me a cup of coffee before."

"What, aren't I _allowed_ to be nice to you?" Raven snapped.

"Why do you have any _reason_ to be nice to me? You're usually gunning for me and telling me I'm arrogant and big-headed and that my brain is in my pants instead of my head. 'Course you say that to Cy and B.B too, but the point is that I can't help but be suspicious that you're making me a cup of coffee. What are you putting in it, ground glass?"

"You _wonder_ why I'm constantly gunning for you when you're so _obnoxious!_" Raven asked in disbelief.

"What I'm _saying_, Raven," Robin said patiently, "is why then, if I'm so obnoxious and arrogant and detestable, are you being nice to me? And at this time of night? I doubt you woke me up just so you could make me a cup of coffee and give me a shoulder rub."

"Who said anything about a shoulder rub, Wonder Boy?" Raven asked acidly, not looking at him as she set about making herself a cup of herbal tea.

"No-one, but that's what I'm _saying_," Robin pointed out. "You brought me down here to tell me something – something that I'm not going to like – and now you're trying to distract me."

"Nice work, Sherlock."

He folded his arms impatiently, not taking the bait.

"This is the part where you say "It was elementary, my dear Watson,"," Raven prompted him, turning around and handing him his mug of hot coffee.

"No, this is the part where you tell me what the hell is going on," Robin corrected coldly, taking it from her with both hands.

"Hmm." She turned away from him to sort out her tea.

"Raven, I'm _serious!_" Robin said irritably from behind her.

"I know you are."

"Then stop fucking around with me!" Robin snapped, losing his temper and slamming down his full cup of coffee onto the kitchen table, where the hot liquid overflowed onto his wrist.

Raven jumped at his use of the expletive, but at the same time thinking it was an unfortunate context of the word. After all, she _had_ "fucked" around with him, which was the whole reason she was even _in_ this dilemma…

"Robin, stop it," she said calmly, turning around to face him.

"No, _you_ stop it!" Robin spat, grasping her wrists. "Tell me what is going on, _right now!_"

She tried to pull her wrists from his strong grip.

"Robin, let _go_…"

"Raven, this isn't funny. Quit trying to distract me."

"I'm not-"

"You _are!_"

She looked at him for a very long time, the silence eating away at them both. His eyebrows were knitted into a scowl and he wasn't smiling, but rather glaring at her through narrowed eyes, waiting for her to speak.

Waiting…

She didn't know how much time had ticked by when she finally blurted it out;

"I'm pregnant."

He blinked and she felt his grip on her wrists slack and loosen.

"_What?_" He whispered finally.

She looked away, then back at him again.

"You heard me," she said quietly.

"Say it again," Robin told her weakly.

"I'm pregnant. I'm carrying your child."

"Oh."

For a brief second she though he was going to laugh, and indeed, a trace of a smile flickered across his face, but then he let her go completely and sank into a chair at the kitchen table. She watched him put his head in his hands for a few moments; then he looked back up at her.

"Bruce is going to kill me," he said, his voice expressionless.

Raven nodded briefly.

"Yes, I _had_ thought of that…"

He breathed out heavily and studied the kitchen floor. After a long while he looked up at her again.

"You're sure it's mine?"

Raven stared at him in disbelief.

"Of _course_ it's yours!" She said indignantly. "Who _else's_ would it be? What do you think I _am_, some kind of-"

"Alright, it's mine," Robin interrupted hastily. "I was just checking…"

"Checking to see if it was _your_ problem or not," Raven finished nastily.

He blinked.

"No," he said, annoyed. "It wouldn't matter if it was mine or not. I just thought there might have been a possibility that… well, maybe…"

"Maybe _what?_" Raven asked dangerously.

"Well…" Robin shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "We _were_ in Azarath for a few days… I thought… maybe…"

"One of the senators," Raven finished heavily.

"Well, not necessarily a _senator_. But yeah, along those lines…"

"Rest assured. I'm not even supposed to know what _happiness_ feels like, never mind-"

"Yeah, yeah," Robin interrupted. "We all know what happened. I knocked you up…"

Raven wrinkled her nose.

"Not how I would have put it, but you're right."

"For once I wish I wasn't," Robin said moodily.

Raven shrugged.

"Well, you are. You're going to be a dad."

He looked at her mournfully.

"I don't _want_ to be a dad."

"Tough. You should have thought of that before you got out of your pants."

"I wasn't _wearing_ pants," Robin reminded her irritably. "And I didn't exactly _force_ you. I…"

He trailed off and was quiet, putting himself into remission as the idea of rape made him think of Slade and Arkham Asylum. Raven didn't push him, but leaned against the sideboard, watching him. She actually felt much better for telling him; now it was _his_ problem too.

"Did you do a test?" Robin suddenly asked, the question taking her by surprise.

"Well, I… I bought one at the mall today," she said truthfully.

"But did you _do_ it?" Robin pressed.

Raven nodded.

"And what did it say?"

"I… well, I didn't look at it," Raven admitted. "I was too scared to…"

At once Robin's dejected bearing brightened and he sat up, smiling.

"Then we're getting ahead of ourselves!" He said happily, obvious relief sounding in his voice. "You don't know for sure that you _are_ pregnant!"

"Robin, I _know_ I am-" Raven started.

"No you don't," Robin interrupted. "Not until you've seen the test."

She sighed as she looked at him; he was standing up again, bouncing slightly on the balls of his feet in almost… well, _excitement_. She was pregnant; she _knew_ it. She could sense the baby inside her womb, even though it hadn't even begun to take proper shape. But Robin was male, and he wasn't telepathic as she was; he simply didn't understand.

"Go and get the test, Raven," Robin told her, pointing at the kitchen door. "And we'll look at it and we'll _see_ if we have anything to worry about."

She sighed in resignation; if she refused he would go and get it himself, and she didn't want him nosing through her room upending all of her things.

"Alright, just stay there," she said heavily. "I won't be a minute." She left the kitchen, leaving him standing in the middle of the room feeling stupid.

He was kidding himself; he knew he was. Throughout his worrying about her, the thought that he could have gotten her pregnant had constantly been at the back of his mind. And she might not have looked at the test, but this was _Raven_; she was _always_ right about this kind of thing. She could probably sense the new life beginning inside her, and while he was trying to rely on science to pull through for him, he knew that it was better to go on Raven's premonitions. And, thinking about it, for her to be pregnant made sense; she kept being sick, and the very _second_ she had gone loopy on him had been when he had climaxed, pinpointing the very moment he had impregnated her.

So, yes; logical detective that he was, he too knew that he had gotten Raven pregnant.

Somehow, like Raven herself, he just _knew_…

And he knew that it was a really, _really_ bad thing.

**TT**

Well, they finally know they're going to be parents! That's a good thing… right?

Anyway, we are on the last leg of _Black Magic_ now; and then it's on to _Remember the Titans_!

Come on, everyone! This is an all-over victory! Let's hit 400 reviews before we're finished here! We're on 365 so far – just 35 to go!

And one last time – happy birthday to **Seductive Angel**!

- RobinRocks xXx


	35. The Other Senator

People, people… one more, I have excellent news! And that is that… _Black Magic_ now has its own shrine! Yesiree – a message board type-thing dedicated to the fic! Nope, I didn't make it myself; **Rocky-White Wolf of Curses** very kindly put it together for me, even though I did not ask, and I have to, say it is looking great. After you're done here, you might want to stop by and take a look, maybe leave a comment for Rocky.

But wait! There's _more_! She also made… wait for it… a _Small Print_ shrine too! I have a feeling that will be a little more popular… It's looking great too – I am so happy about both of them! They are wonderful! I hope you all like them too (including Narroch06, whom I don't think has sent the _Small Print_ shrine yet…)…

So… I have put the links for both of them in my profile, right at the top, so when you're done reading, click on my name and go check them both out (unless you don't read _Small Print_)! They're awesome! _BIG_ thankyou to Rocky-White Wolf of Curses!

Next! Thanks to: **TheLon3Wolf8986 **(quite… what _will_ Robin do:P); **Raven Victoria Grayson **(Robin is kinda more worried about the fact that there _is_ a baby rather than if it is a girl or a boy… and thanks for the back-story on your neighbour! I think…); **Kami-Elf **(who suddenly, halfway through that review, turned into Elmer Fudd… _heh heh_… glad you're enjoying the melancholy side…); **Quinn and His Quill **(yeah, I take my coffee black with no milk or sugar. I don't like hot chocolate or tea much… but how did we get onto this topic anyway? The "word-processor" or "spell-checker" I use is none other than simple Microsoft Word, on a Toshiba laptop. Nothing fancy… and as for those proof-readers… none of them are very good, you know. Well, James wasn't, anyway… I'm sure you heard that "Robin Goes to Hollywood" proof-reading story…); **Heathen Requiem **(I am happy that you find amusement in such simple things… little amuses the innocent, as they say. But yes, you are weird…); **Simmie **(_heh heh_… an excellent speculation… And the team won't be splitting up, so don't worry. This is set in Season Two, not Season Five…); **Rocky-White Wolf of Curses **(dude! Thanks for the shrines! Also, that's too bad about the flame, but don't worry. People who flame are usually dumb – they don't know how to criticise something constructively and helpfully, so they just say "It sucks!". You'll notice that flamers are always anonymous, too, so you can't grill their tails over it. Don't worry, Narroch06 and I have had flames for _Small Print_ too… you wonder why people who hate slash even read the things…); **YamiTai **(yes, they have one hell of a secret to keep, huh?); **BeautifulNightmare16** (won't be long 'til _Remember the Titans_ now! oh, and as for Small Print… it _is_ being worked on, don't despair. It's out of my hands at the moment, though. If you want a play-by-play, you'll have to plague Narroch06. You can always check out Rocky's _Small Print_ shrine, though!); **Poison's Ivy **(you and your crazy reviews… I would imagine that this fic is a little tricky to understand if you haven't read _Asylum_; if I were you, to fully understand all of the implications of the prophecy, I would just read two chapters of it; _The Prophecy_ and _Sins of the Fathers_. Those two explain pretty much everything… And yes, this fic is set in Season Two (before Terra is turned to stone), you do have a rather colourful vocabulary, and I looked up "The Writer You Fools" – _The Gift_ is not by them. Maybe I'll just look on your profile… Did I really change Raven's age? O.o Oh, and a plaster is one of those sticky things you put over cuts…); **Daybreak25 **(thanks for the heads-up on the _Black Magic_ shrine! And I'm afraid Seth isn't "dead somewhere"… He'll be back… obviously); **Crazy Insomniac **(Slade will be back VERY soon indeed! With the seer in tow and everything! Yeah, he hasn't been in it for chapters and chapters… Terra will be back, too… Poor, poor lil' Robin…); **Raven of the Night676 **(yay, a new reviewer! Glad you're liking it! Another Jonathon fan… sorry, but he had to go. Keep an eye on the necklace… BTW, you _did_ read _Asylum_, right…?); and **Super Chaos **(another new reviewer! Yikes, please calm down! Here's the update!)…

**Narroch06! **Review, you ingrate! _Heh heh_, JK…

Oh yeah, that was the other thing… Jake Christensen? He's right here, baby.

Enjoy!

The Other Senator

Robin sank down back into his chair and took a sip of his coffee, then slumped on the tabletop and buried his head in his arms, heaving a lethargic sigh.

He had gotten Raven pregnant.

_Nice one, Grayson; 16 years old and already on the Father's Day Honours guest-list…_

And he hadn't been exaggerating to Raven; Bruce really would go _nuts_, to put it mildly. He was sure that, at 30-something, Bruce considered himself too young to be a grandfather… which, in all fairness, he _was_.

He looked up again, at the farthest end of the kitchen table. The Azarathian Senate file was buried beneath a week's worth of newspapers, exactly where he had left it before retreating up to bed; no-one would ever find it there, he being the only person in the whole of the tower who actually _read_ newspapers.

He hadn't told Raven, but he was very worried about Seth and what he was up to. Because, in actual fact, the whole thing was becoming a bit of a jigsaw, and Robin felt that he only had a few pieces out of a considerably big puzzle. Seth knew about him, knew he was the Avenger, and had known of him since his very conception. Robin believed him because of all that he had rattled off about the Boy Wonder's past down in the dungeon, and also the facts on Seth he had checked against the Senate records.

Robin got up and retrieved the file, taking it back to his seat to flick through it again. There were a few pages on each of the senators in service at the moment, but this file was centuries old and contained the details of nearly ever senator that had ever been on the Azarathian Senate since the organisation had been founded eight hundred years ago. Before that, from what Robin could gather, Azarath had been ruled by a queen, also a goddess, known as Arella; the very goddess which Raven's mother was named after.

Some of the information he was unable to read, as it was scribed in the Azarathian language, but some of it was in English, and he had been able to piece together some information on Seth from what he could understand. His origins were, apparently, unknown, so Robin didn't know if Seth was actually Azarathian or not. Details of his family were also not known, but the information clearly stated that, if Seth was _even_ Azarathian, he was not a pure-blooded one. He was half-bred, possibly half-demon as Raven was, as his powers were beyond the capability of a normal Azarathian. However, while the file said this, it did not actually have any kind of inkling of what Seth could actually _do_, so they _still_ didn't know exactly what they were up against. His age was unknown too, but Robin would have guessed him at early-to-mid twenties. Judging by the time of year now – September, according to the calendar on the kitchen wall – Robin made him to be serving as Head Senator for sixteen and a half years. What was more, it said here that Seth hadn't been a senator beforehand, or even _Vice_-Head like Marcus had been, but had just swanned in as Head Senator on a date in spring just over sixteen years ago, a date that was very familiar to Robin.

His birthday.

Robin read the date of Seth's appointment again now, as he had done over fifty times before that day. On the exact day that Richard John Grayson, the first and only child of acrobats Mary and John Grayson, had taken his very first breath of fresh air in Gotham City Hospital, Seth Elliott had been made Head Senator of the Azarathian Senate.

Coincidence…?

Robin didn't think so. Flicking over the page he read the details of the previous Head Senator, another young guy named Jake Christensen, who had died under mysterious circumstances two days prior to Seth's appointment.

Died… or _murdered?_

There were no details of Jake's death given, but Robin figured it was probably similar to the way Jonathon had been bumped off. But it would go unnoticed, because while Marcus and the Senate knew that Seth had killed Jonathon, none of the serving senators now – Michael Shelley, Sarah de Marçon, Lawrence Westten, Aurora Mariotte, Emma Tomasi, Calica White, Catriona Darke, James Sinclair, Zachariah Warrix, Arella Roth (who had only just come to Azarath, still pregnant with Raven, at that time), nor Marcus Vandiver himself – had been _on_ the Senate almost seventeen years ago. There was nothing yet on the newest and creepiest member, Cordelia Silver…

They had all probably been the age Robin was _now_, but yet Seth – Robin flicked the page back to Seth's details again – was said here to have been in his mid-to-late twenties when he had become Head Senator, but _now_ he _couldn't_ be older than thirty. Either Seth had discovered Botox here on Earth the way he had discovered smoking, or the Azarathians were right in thinking that Seth might not be Azarathian at all.

He was something else entirely.

But regardless of what Seth _was_, Robin was still in the dark. The more he thought about it, the more he was sure that all this had something to do with the prophecy.

He was the Avenger, the one sworn to stop the summoning of the apocalyptic power of the Orb of Azarath by Slade's hand; Seth Elliott was the appointed guardian of said orb.

Spring, sixteen and a half years ago – Richard John Grayson, later known as "Robin", born in Gotham City Hospital.

Spring, sixteen and a half years ago – Seth Elliott appointed Head of the Azarathian Senate following the mysterious and sudden death of the previous Head Senator, Jake Christensen, just two days earlier.

_Seth wanted that job, but it had to be precisely on the day **I** was born_, Robin realised. _Because_ _if all he wanted was to be Head Senator, he could have killed Jake Christensen any old time._

Yes, whatever Seth was planning, it had something to do with the prophecy. It seemed odd that Seth was so involved with him, and it _would_ have been if he had not been the Avenger. But he _was_, and whatever Seth was doing, Robin knew he had some kind of part to play in it, whether he wanted to or not.

And then, of course, there was Cordelia Silver's "message"…

"_No-one may escape their destiny…"_

But still, some things didn't add up. For Seth to have been deliberately appointed Head Senator on that specific day, he would have to have known beforehand the day on which Robin would be born. That was impossible, wasn't it? Robin had not been born on his due date – he remembered his mom telling him that he had obviously been excited to get out and explore the world, because he had been four days early. So how could Seth have _known_ that he would be born four days early? Unless he could foretell the future or something, but Robin doubted that immensely.

But other things still niggled him. For one, _why the hell_ had Seth taken out his soul, then put it back again? He obviously didn't want Robin to be a demon, nor did he want him dead or inanimate or whatever, because if he _did_, he would have left him soulless. It just didn't make sense. And why had Seth been so desperate for that gear, and even more desperate for Robin to have the Blood Diamond, which hung around his neck even as he sat at the kitchen table in Titans Tower and contemplated it all?

He had killed Jonathon, presumably because Jonathon had been on to him; but _what_ had he known?

Why couldn't Seth touch that knife (which Robin had stashed under his bed in a cardboard box)?

What was the significance of Cordelia's message?

And _what_ did Seth want with Raven?

_What the hell is Seth up to?_

"Robin?"

Robin looked up from the file at the doorway, where Raven was standing, a small box in one hand, a long, thin plastic tube in the other.

"I got the test," Raven went on, approaching him.

Robin nodded and held out his hand, putting down the file with the other. Raven handed him the little box and the test, sitting across the table from him. Robin put the test down without looking at it, instead consulting the box.

"Ok, it says here that if there's a little smiley face, you're pregnant," Robin said, looking up at her. She nodded and he continued to read; "And if there's a sad face you aren't; fingers crossed. And… if there's a red line you should consult your doctor."

Robin looked up again, a frown on his face.

"How can a _pregnancy test_ be not sure if you're pregnant or not?" He asked incredulously. "You either are or you aren't!"

Raven shrugged half-heartedly as he put the box down and picked up the test; she saw him cross his fingers and felt sorry for him, getting his hopes up like that…

He saw her shaking her head in what appeared to be a gesture of pity and he scowled. This was science - science never lied…

He kept that in mind as he looked down at the pregnancy test.

"_Oops_."

He deadpanned the word so familiar to him since Larry's reign of chaos as he looked up at her, then back at the test.

_Damn you, smiley face. What are **you** smirking at?_

He sighed heavily and tossed it over his head, where it sailed into the trashcan. The box followed but Raven didn't have it within her to be impressed by his expert shots.

"So." Robin folded his arms, then unfolded them again restlessly. "You're pregnant."

"Yes. I told you I was."

Robin put his hands behind his head and leaned back.

"I didn't want to believe you."

"I don't want to believe it either," Raven sighed. "But it's true. We're going to be parents."

"Hmm." He rocked back and forwards on his chair. "I guess this is when getting sucked off doesn't seem so appealing…"

Raven shivered.

"I don't want to talk about that, Robin. I don't know what was wrong with me that night…"

To her surprise, he smiled.

"No, neither do I…"

"You don't want to talk about it, or you don't know what got into me either?"

"Both. Well, about not wanting to talk about it. We both know what got _into_ you; you're pregnant as a result of it…"

Raven sighed heavily, looking up at him, her violet eyes sad.

"Robin, what are we going to _do?_" She asked softly.

He stopped rocking and returned her gaze.

"I don't know." He exhaled deeply. "Guess there's not much we _can_ do, is there? I know you'd never abort it."

"No. Never," Raven confirmed. "It's not fair; it's not the _baby's_ fault we were stupid and, well… conceived it."

Robin nodded in vague agreement.

"Yeah, it's _my_ fault," he murmured. "_I'm_ the one that got you pregnant…"

"It's _both_ of our faults," Raven corrected. "We did this together; it's _our_ baby."

He nodded obediently again and she got the feeling he wasn't taking much notice of what she was saying.

"Robin," she said firmly. "I'm not going to say this again; it's not_ your_ fault."

He shrugged nonchalantly in response.

"I'm not looking forward to telling Bruce," he said miserably.

Raven could understand his worry there; Bruce was _not_ going to take it well. Of course, once he had gotten over it - and had finished strangling Robin - he would probably be a very good grandfather and spoil his grandchild rotten, and no doubt the butler, Alfred, would stand in for a substitute great-grandfather. When she pushed away all the initial worry, Raven figured that, while she wasn't exactly the ideal mother-type, having a baby – _her_ baby – around might be quite fun. She found herself hoping it was a girl, so that when her daughter was older, they could have the long, depressing conversations Raven longed for that she couldn't squeeze out of optimistic, upbeat Starfire.

That was, if… they all _lived_ that long…

Robin didn't seem to be thinking as "optimistically" as she was.

"He's going to _kill_ me!" He wailed in despair. "He'll probably have me _castrated!_"

Raven blinked.

"Robin, you're being stupid now," she said irritably.

He slumped on the table top in response.

"It was an _accident_," she heard him muttering. "A stupid _accident_…"

"I know it was… but, Robin… I _want_ this baby."

Robin looked up at her slowly and her gaze became fixed not on his face, but on the glittering red jewel contrasting against his grey pyjama top.

"Why?" He asked, sounding as though he really couldn't understand why anyone would actually _want_ to have a baby.

"Because it's _our_ child, Robin!" Raven said in exasperation, standing up. "It'll be a mix of all the best parts of you and I, maybe it'll have your intellect and my powers, and we could bring it up as a _Titan_, Robin; as a _superhero_. It would be another whole new person in the fight for justice."

"Maybe," he said vaguely. He was gazing absently at her stomach, perfectly flat beneath her black satin robe, and imagining it suddenly swelling to an abnormal size.

"Robin?" Raven could feel her blood running cold as she watched him, following his wide-eyed gaze to her stomach. But it was not _him_ staring at her abdomen in that way that bothered her; it was the fact that _Seth_ had done the very same thing, and he had been _smiling_…

Robin looked up at Raven and frowned.

"Hey, Raven, you okay?" He asked, getting to his feet and going to her. "You've gone… well, paler than usual."

"Seth," Raven said, clutching Robin's elbows.

"No, I'm _Robin_," Robin corrected her irritably.

"No, _Seth!_" Raven cried, looking wildly into Robin's masked eyes. "Robin, he _knows!_"

"He knows _what?_" Robin pressed, getting a horrible sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach…

"That… that I'm…"

"Pregnant?" Robin finished heavily. Raven nodded, her expression distraught.

"How do _you_ know _he_ knows?" Robin asked cautiously.

Raven quickly recounted Seth's strange behaviour down in the chamber, only now it didn't seem so strange anymore. Somehow, Seth had known Raven was pregnant with Robin's child before Raven _herself_ had.

And he obviously found it amusing.

Unless… _that_ was what he wanted? He had vowed to Arella that her daughter would be his; but was it the _baby_ he wanted?

Robin let go of her and punched the palm of his hand with his other fist, something she had only seen him do once or twice before; something left over from years of being Batman's cute little kid sidekick, she presumed.

"_How_ does he _know_ this stuff?" He asked in exasperation, the question rhetorical.

Raven blinked.

"What do you mean? What else does he know?"

Robin retrieved the Senate file and briefly filled Raven in on everything he had managed to piece together about Seth Elliott, occasionally backing it up with a fact or figure from the file. She scanned down the Azarathian text, but informed him it was only a translation of what was already there in English; apparently the Azarathians were bilingual, and were familiar with many of Earth's customs, even borrowing some for their own culture.

"So… Jonathon isn't the first person he's murdered," Raven said softly.

"And probably not the last," Robin added flatly. "Jake Christensen got it in the neck because he had the job Seth wanted; Jonathon was bumped off because he knew too much. Maybe it's a good thing he didn't get around to telling Marcus what he knew; Seth probably would have killed _him_ too."

Raven nodded, her despair and confusion overwhelming.

"Robin, you don't think… maybe he'll hurt our baby?" She asked, clutching one of Robin's wrists.

Robin shook his head.

"As arrogant as it sounds, Raven," he said mildly, "it's _me_ he wants. What would he want with a baby that was conceived not even two days ago? He'll have to wait nine months before it's even born, and even _then_ it won't be much use to him."

Raven shivered.

"But he swore to my mother that I would be his. What if it isn't _me_ he wants? What if it's our _baby_?"

"What _good_ is it to him?"

"But then what does he want with _you?_" She pressed, gripping Robin's wrist tighter. "I'm sorry to be… I'm not calling you useless – you're strong and clever and brave – but you're _powerless_. What does he want from you? What can he possibly _take_ from a mortal?"

Robin raised an eyebrow.

"That's the part I haven't figured out yet."

"He's been shadowing you your entire life."

"I know."

Robin toyed with the necklace absently, twisting the glittering chain around his finger. Raven eyed it skeptically.

"You sure it's safe to wear that thing?" She questioned of it. "I mean, you said Seth was desperate for you to have it; maybe he did something to it."

Robin looked down at the necklace; it was something he hadn't even considered. Finally he shook his head.

"I don't think so. Granted, he wanted me to have it, and I think there's a reason behind it, too. But I don't think he's jinxed it or anything."

Raven continued to look at it warily.

"I'd rather you took it off."

He shook his head again.

"No, something tells me I should keep an eye one it."

"But do you have to wear it 24-7?" Raven pressed. "You haven't taken it off at all since he gave it to you; it's like your mask. Beast Boy said he was waiting for you to come out of the shower so that he could have one, and when you came out of the bathroom you were only wearing a towel, but you still had the necklace on, implying you wore it in the shower."

Robin nodded vaguely.

"I know it seems dumb, Raven," he agreed. "And believe me, it's not because I cherish it because _Seth_ gave it to me or anything. It's just… I don't know. I just don't want to let it out of my sight; I want to know exactly where it is all the time, so the safest place to keep it is around my neck."

"You could leave it locked up in the Evidence Room," Raven pointed out.

"And risk Beast Boy prying it out of its case and making off down to the comic book store to see if he can sell it as genuine movie memorabilia? You never know; it might pass off as something out of _The Twilight Zone_."

"Good point."

Robin sighed.

"Man, I _hate_ this…" he muttered darkly.

"You hate what?" Raven asked cautiously.

"Just… _everything_." Robin hoisted himself up onto the sideboard and crossed one leg over the other, all the while watching her intently. "We haven't a got a clue what's going on here," he went on. "I get the feeling that all this has something to with the prophecy, and we still don't know what _Slade_ is up to, for petesakes! And now we've got some all-powerful killer on our hands too, although maybe if we're lucky he'll kill Slade for us and we'll have one less thing to worry about… But even so, we don't know where Seth went, and right at this very moment Slade is probably plotting yet _another_ way to kill me…"

He looked down briefly, then back up at her.

"And let's face it, Ray," he said softly. "You were right in your likening me to a cat; I must be on my last life by now…"

"Robin, don't talk like that," Raven replied quietly, coming over to him; sitting on the sideboard he was now a good few inches higher than her. She looked up at him, silently conveying him to continue, even though in reality she didn't want him to.

"And, well, if he succeeds, there'll be no Avenger to stop the reckoning," Robin went on heavily, "and there'll be no back-up plan either, 'cause you guys an' Superman and the Justice League and everyone else will all be powerless, and I guess there would still be Batman because he doesn't _have_ any powers, but if Slade had summoned the orb's power by that time, there would be nothing Batman could do against him. And if _Seth_ has something to do with all of this, he'd hammer Batman flat, and everyone else too, if he steps in before Slade kills me. I get the feeling we can't defeat Seth using brute force, Ray, even with the Justice League on our side."

"But the _Senate_ would help too," Raven reminded him. "And they may not be as powerful as Seth is, Robin, but even _without_ Jonathon, they're still a pretty formidable force."

"But would they be enough to defeat Seth?" Robin asked. "That's what you've got to keep in mind. This guy killed that Jake Christensen guy, who was a Head Senator himself; he must have been pretty powerful, and yet Seth killed him. And he murdered Jonathon, and you said yourself that Jonathon was very powerful too, and I read in this file all the stuff Jonathon could do. I reckon he was stronger than _Marcus_ is, and yet Seth just… well, tore his heart out…"

"Robin, it's not _hopeless_," Raven pressed; she felt that he was stealing her role. Usually _she_ was the depressive one.

"I didn't say it _was_. It's pretty bleak, though."

"Yeah, the way _you_ tell it."

Robin smiled grimly.

"I can embellish."

"Be my guest," Raven replied irritably.

Robin looked straight at her, his deep blue eyes boring into her even through his mask.

"You're pregnant."

"Yes, I think we spent about ten minutes establishing that," Raven snapped.

Robin shrugged in acknowledgement, not taking his eyes off her.

"Well, it causes a number of glitches," he said carefully, watching her passive expression turn into a scowl even as the words rolled off his tongue.

Her hand went to her stomach as though in protection of the barely-formed baby inside her.

"I _knew_ you'd-" she started furiously.

"No, hear me out," Robin interrupted calmly. Her scowl did not deteriorate, but she allowed him to continue; "This baby certainly wasn't planned, Raven, and I still don't know what we're going to do about it, but it's not the _baby_ that's going to cause the problem; we have nine months before it's born."

"Then what _is_ the problem, Robin?" Raven asked dangerously, her hand still at her stomach.

"Exactly what I said; you're pregnant."

Raven stared at him.

"You said the baby _wasn't_ the problem!" She cried, exasperated.

"The baby isn't." Robin leaned forwards, his expression unreadable. "_You_ are."

"And how am _I_ the problem?" Raven questioned waspishly. "You think I'm going to spend the next nine months at the mall shopping for maternity wear and things for the baby's room?"

Robin leaned back again, shaking his head.

"Not at all," he said calmly. His expression turned to a frown. "Raven, I'm _worried_ about you."

Raven actually smiled.

"_Worried?_ Robin, I'll be _fine_. Granted, I've never been pregnant before, and I don't think I'm going to like it all that much, what with the morning sickness and the mood swings and the growing out of all my clothes, but I can handle it, _I_ _promise_."

Robin shook his head.

"No, Raven; you don't get me. I _know_ you'll handle the pregnancy fine. It's… other stuff."

"Like what?"

"Well, to do with everything that's going on, what with the prophecy and Slade and now Seth… Raven, you're our only link to Seth, maybe the only one _capable_ of defeating him. And don't look at me like that, Raven; you might feel you could take on Seth now, but in four or five months' time when you're carrying a lot of extra weight, you might not feel the same way. I don't think Seth is going to rush into anything, Raven; if he waited sixteen and a half years to finally meet _me_, he might deliberately postpone whatever he's up to until you're heavily pregnant and can't do much against him. You _did_ say he knew that you were pregnant, right?"

Raven nodded mutely; she hadn't even taken that eventuality into account. She didn't know too much about being pregnant, but she _did_ know that pregnant mothers weren't capable of the things they were when _not_ with child. In a fight she would be more concerned about the safety of the unborn baby inside her than in defeating the enemy, and the extra weight of her by then-swollen stomach would slow her down.

If Robin was right, and Seth _did_ make things awkward by waiting until Raven was seven or eight months pregnant…

She looked up at him in despair.

"_Slade_ worries me too," Robin went on, as though to deliberately crush her already-shattered psyche even more. "He needs me dead to access the orb's power; if he found out you were pregnant with my child he could use it against me."

"As in… he'd try to get you to sacrifice your own life to save your unborn child?"

Robin shrugged.

"Maybe. It's the kind of thing he'd do."

"And would you?" Raven asked softly.

Robin looked at her very hard.

"It would depend on the circumstances. You have to remember that if I gave up my life you'd all be powerless; the baby might not get born anyway."

"_Would you, Robin?_" Raven pressed, dismissing his previous statement and taking hold of his wrist.

Again Robin gazed at her for a very long time before answering.

"Not… not if it was just the baby."

"You'd let him kill our baby?" Raven repeated weakly.

"Only because I couldn't risk you all losing your powers for a baby that probably wouldn't get born anyway as a result of Slade gaining the orb's power."

"But… _just_ the baby?"

Robin nodded.

"So… if he was going to kill _me_ as well the baby…" Raven said softly, trailing off.

Robin gazed fixedly at her.

"I wouldn't let him," he answered quietly. "I would give up my life to save you."

"But you _couldn't!_" Raven said, horrified. "Then we'd all be powerless _anyway!_"

Robin nodded.

"I know," he said quietly. "That's why we can't let Slade find out you're pregnant."

"_Why_, Robin?" Raven bantered him, gripping his wrist tighter. "_Why_ would you die for _me?_"

Again, a long pause.

"Because, like I said, I think you're the only one who can stop Seth."

Not "Because I love you". But that might have been what he meant; maybe not. There was no way of telling with Robin; he could mask his feelings almost as well as _she_ could, and _definitely_ as well as _Batman_ could.

"If you died for me, I wouldn't _have_ any powers with _which_ to defeat Seth," she pointed out testily.

Robin looked at her in despair.

"I know that. That's _why_ we can't let him find out."

Raven nodded in understanding.

"So… what do you want me to do?" She asked quietly.

Robin sighed heavily.

"I don't know. I don't have a clue what we're going to do about this baby. We're obviously going to keep it… you know, if Slade or Seth haven't killed us all by the time it's due. But…" He sighed again, putting his head in his hands. "It's gonna be hard, Ray. _Money's_ not going to be a problem, 'cause the city gives us more than enough funding, and I'm sure Bruce will shower us with crap that we don't even need, and it's not like we don't have any _space_ in the tower for a baby…"

"Yeah… there's an empty room next to the Evidence Room," Raven said, sounding quite enthusiastic. "It overlooks the river and Gotham City Bridge. _That_ can be the baby's room, and we can paint it and-"

"That's my point, Raven," Robin interrupted sadly, looking up. "Where are we going to find the time? We'll need to decorate and furnish the room, buy clothes and things for the baby, and we've got a scanner and stuff in the hospital wing so Cyborg or I can carry out the checks for you, but you should still probably go to antenatal classes… "

He looked at her in despair.

"Raven, we're _superheroes!_" He burst out. "Jump City _depends_ on us to _protect_ it! And towards the end of the pregnancy you'll obviously be sitting cases out, because I will _not_ let you get into a scrap with the Hive or the Amazing Mumbo when you're eight and a half months pregnant, and then _after_ the baby is born… well, who is going to look after it when we're out stopping Mad Mod's latest psychedelic crime wave? I mean, I'm sure Cy, Star and B.B will all want to be as involved with this baby as _we_ are, so we can take it in turns to stay behind with it, but that's _still_ going to leave us one team-member short every time the Titan Alert goes! And babies keep you up all night, so what are we going to be like trying to stop a villain when we've had about one and a half hour's sleep the night before? I mean, don't get me wrong, Raven; it's _my_ baby as much as it is _yours_, and I don't want you to get rid of it, but it's going to tear the team apart."

Raven nodded numbly; every point he was making was perfectly valid, but ranting about it the way he was wasn't going to make it any better. She was pregnant, and that was all there was to it.

"I don't know what you expect me to do about it, Robin," she said quietly, gazing sadly at him.

"Well, that's just it, isn't it?" Robin sighed, the question rhetorical. "Aside from an abortion, there's nothing we _can_ do."

"I'm not killing our baby just because it's an inconvenience."

"Yes, I know." Robin sighed again, getting up from his chair and going to the kitchen window, looking out over the dark river and Gotham City Bridge beyond.

"We'll find a way," he said, more to himself than to her. "We'll make it work, Raven. And it'll be… _fun_…"

He seemed to struggle saying the last word, and she watched him absently twisting his necklace around his finger as he gazed at Gotham City River, his back to her.

"You don't want it, do you?" Raven asked him quietly. He turned to her, his necklace still tangled around his first finger.

"Not if I'm honest," he replied expressionlessly. "Who wants to be a dad at 16? Who wants to be a _mom_, for that matter?..."

"I do."

He didn't take his gaze off her, but she saw the tiniest trace of a smile grace his face.

"That… that surprises me, you know. _Starfire_ seems more like the type to want a baby."

Raven nodded.

"She is. But this is different, Robin. This is _our_ baby. And you and me… we're not like other people, Robin."

"Oh, I know that," Robin said airily. "I can just imagine it when it's our age, Raven; it'll either be mad like me or moody like you, maybe both if we're "lucky"…"

"_Or_," Raven said with a smile, "with the love and guidance of us and the other Titans and Batman… it'll grow up to be a good, clever and courageous person committed to the fight against evil, just like _we_ are."

Robin shrugged

"Maybe."

Raven sighed at his lack of enthusiasm and came over to him, looking out at the mirror-like river too.

"It _would_ be a nice view for the baby's room," she said wistfully.

Robin shrugged again

"Mm."

"Well, where do _you_ want to keep it?" Raven asked him snippily. "_A box?_"

Yet another shrug.

"You're desperate, Robin…" Raven sighed.

_Yes, I know…_

Robin sighed too; even as he stood next to her, his thoughts were of the dream he had had two nights ago, the one about himself and Starfire… He felt terrible for it now, having learned that he had gotten Raven pregnant. The dream hadn't been his _fault_, of course – there was no way of controlling the sedated mind – but it still felt like two-timing.

Maybe he should tell Raven.

She would kill him.

But it hadn't been deliberate.

She would still kill him.

And it still worried him slightly. It hadn't been a pleasant dream at all, yet he had still enjoyed it enough to orgasm in his sleep. What did _that_ say about him?…

Raven knew about dreams; maybe she could interpret it for him. Maybe there was more to it than the initial content.

He hoped.

"Raven…"

She recognised that slow, wheedling tone and looked sharply at him; he wanted something. Or he was scared she'd be mad at him; one or the other.

"What?" She asked cautiously.

"Well…" He didn't look at her, still continuing to twist his necklace nervously. "I… had this dream…"

What was he doing? He didn't want to tell her this; it was embarrassing. And yet he was.

Raven looked sharply at him. Another vision? Or did he remember the first one?

"Robin, you don't have to tell me about your dreams anymore. You're 100 demon-free," she told him cautiously.

"No, I know… but this one was _different_, Raven… It… _scares_ me a little…"

Her heart thudded.

"A nightmare?"

"No."

Raven breathed an imperceptible sigh of relief. Nothing like The End then…

"If it wasn't a nightmare, why does it scare you?"

"Well… it was… a… a… _sex_ dream…"

"Oh." Raven raised her eyebrows, drawing in her breath again. "Of the wet and wild variety you talked about? Who was licking the maple syrup off you, Poison Ivy?"

Robin shuddered.

"No. There was no maple syrup involved."

"But it was wet and wild?"

She was going to laugh; he could hear it in her voice.

"Raven, I'm not messing," he said icily, turning to face her. "I wouldn't tell you this if it didn't worry me."

"Why would you be worried?" Raven asked incredulously, still biting back the desire to laugh at him. "You didn't dream you were in a gay bar, did you?"

He looked away again and she wished she hadn't said that, in retrospection of…

_Arkham_…

"Ok," she sighed in resignation. "Tell me. I won't laugh, and I won't get mad, I promise."

So he did, every detail, and about the fact that Seth knew about it and had even gone to the trouble of taking away his wet sheets.

"I'd be more worried that _Seth_ knew about it than the actual dream itself," Raven said when he had finished.

Robin shrugged.

"_Nothing_ Seth knows surprises me, after all that we've found out about him."

Raven nodded vaguely in agreement.

"So… you have any idea what it meant?" Robin went on. "Because no matter what you think about boys, Raven, I can assure you it wasn't a normal dream."

Raven nodded again in agreement.

"Well, it _is_ strange it was about _Starfire_," she said, "especially after what had just happened. But I think I know why it was her, and why it was so horrible."

"Oh?" Robin looked at her in interest.

"It's not something any of us bothered mentioning to you," Raven explained, "but when you were fully possessed you wouldn't let any of us near you except Starfire."

Robin blinked.

"Why?"

"Because you weren't human, and you obviously somehow felt threatened or whatever by humans and Azarathians or whatever. But…"

"Starfire's _not_ human," Robin finished, catching on.

Raven nodded.

"Right, and Seth – for all the other stuff he's done – was pretty useful in explaining to you that the sexual indulgence had allowed the demon to get a strong grip on you. Obviously it was in possession of your sedated mind. So, when you fell asleep, you had that violent erotic dream about a much more savage Starfire, because it the _demon's_ fantasy – not _yours_, Robin."

Robin frowned.

"And the other stuff? The necklace, and the chamber, both of which I had never seen before?"

Raven shrugged.

"I believe I have told you before about the prophetic abilities of dreams, Robin." She said this part very cautiously indeed; trying to trick him into spilling if he _did_ remember that dream he had experienced during his meditation.

"Yeah, but…" Robin ran a hand through his messy hair. "It doesn't make sense. I'm not like _you_, Raven; I don't have any kind of empathic powers. I can't read minds, and I _can't_ see the future…"

Raven looked long and hard at him. He obviously didn't remember.

"It would appear that you _can_, Robin. You had dreams foreseeing the reappearance of Poison Ivy, did you not?"

_Among other things…_

"Yeah, but I talked to Batman about that, and he said it was symbolic. _Ivy_ was the reason Bruce and I broke up the partnership, and I was probably subconsciously feeling bad about it and maybe even missing Batman, so I dreamt about Ivy. Bruce reckons it was just a really freaky coincidence that Ivy decided to show up again around the same time I was dreaming about her."

Raven nodded.

"Well, possibly. But you have to remember, Robin, that the subconscious mind is a different part of your brain which is active when you sleep, as opposed to the part which works while you are awake. Believe me, this subconscious part can be capable of truly amazing things. Seemingly normal human beings have done allsorts while sleeping, even telekinesis including levitating themselves from the mattress, still sleeping."

"I've never done _that_, but I _have_ fallen out of bed at Wayne Manor. It was quite a high bed and it _really hurt_…"

"Yes, well… it's possible that you _did_, somehow, see a glimpse of things to come, but not enough for you to avoid it. Either way, I can assure you that no part of that dream was really anything to worry about."

_The **other** dream, however…_

She said nothing of the morning in the sacrificial chamber.

Robin bit his lip worriedly.

"What is it?" She asked warily.

"That new senator… Cordelia Silver… She came to my room just before we left. She had a message for me…"

"I don't like her."

Robin snorted.

"Neither do I. She's got the most horrific way of passing on messages… It was like a… vision… "

"Tell me," Raven urged him, trying not to panic.

Robin explained what she had done, suppressing a shudder as he remembered the way her tongue had slid right down his throat…

Raven seemed disgusted.

"That's gross…" She looked at him long and hard. "But you're okay? No after-effects? The head-ache is gone?…"

"Yeah, no traces of it… except _this_."

He rolled up his left sleeve and pulled off the plaster to show her the tiny clumsy "A".

"Did you do that?"

"No." He sounded irritated. "I woke up on the balcony with it. I don't remember her doing it, though…"

"It's like a… _warning_," Raven whispered, taking his wrist. "A reminder of something you have to do…"

_So very like mine…_

"Why an "A"?"

Raven looked up at him.

"You surprise me. It's for "Avenger"."

He raised his eyebrows.

"Oh, of course it is. How silly of me." He stuck the plaster back down. "Well, it had better heal up pretty quick. It's stupid-looking…"

"I think you should be more concerned with the fact that's there at all…"

"You think _she's_ evil too?"

Raven groaned.

"I _seriously_ hope not…"

Robin scratched his soft hair and stretched like a cat, arching his back gracefully.

"What a pair we are, Ray," he pointed out as he came back to his normal height. "I'm a walking disaster zone – I just seem to attract trouble like a magnet – and I have mad dreams and seriously must have a sign on my back that encourages people to pick on me, and then there's _you_… how to describe _you?_"

"Creepy. Freaky. Moody." Raven's voice was completely deadpan.

Robin smiled.

"I think "different" was the word I was looking for."

"That's because you're tactful. Beast Boy isn't, and he's right."

Robin shook his head in resignation.

"You forgot "sarcastic"," he muttered.

"How absent-minded of me."

Robin sighed.

"You know, I feel sorry for this baby, being born to _us_, of all people."

Raven actually smiled.

"I don't," she said, still smiling. "Regardless of whether it's born depressed, it's going to be a very special baby."

Robin tried to smile in return as he looked away, back out at Gotham City River, and the glittering metropolis that was Jump City, and Batman's city beyond.

His smile died.

"_Special", yeah. That's the part that worries me…_

**TT**

OK, first of all, Robin's birthday – I was vague, I know, but the truth is that I am actually unable to put a date on it. According to _Robin Year One_, he was born in spring, so that part is accurate, but the date is unknown, and the year is inconsistent, so I couldn't put that down either; only a note of how many years had passed since then, which is roughly sixteen and a half. Robin first appeared in _Batman_ in spring 1940, where he was aged 8 years old. From 1940 to the late 1970s he stayed somewhere between 8-14; by the time _The New Teen Titans_ appeared he was around sixteen or seventeen, suddenly aging 8 or 9 years. In the current DC Universe, Mr Grayson is in his early to mid-twenties, and working under the nomenclature "Nightwing". However, the _WB_ cartoon has reverted back to the early days of _TT_, in which Robin is once again around 16, which, of course, would imply that since 1940 he has only aged 8 years; if he were real, he would in fact be 74.

Botox, anyone?

Spring also seems like a very good choice for Robin, too; he seems like an Aries to me. Want proof? Check out the Aries traits:

Colour: Red

Strengths: Courage, action, leadership

Weaknesses: Greed, destruction, arrogance

Element: Fire

Symbol: Ram

Ruled by: Mars, God of War

Honestly, those are all _real_ traits of Aries. _Soooo_… c'mon; is Robin an Aries or is he an Aries?

Also: More _Revenge of the Sith_ references! If you _thought_ you recognised that name… The previous Head Senator murdered by Seth Elliott was called Jake Christensen; "Christensen" coming from "Hayden Christensen", the actor who played Anakin Skywalker in Episodes II and III. And yes, that Anakin poster on my wall is still fighting off other contenders… He was briefly replaced by a Led Zeppelin _Stairway to Heaven _poster, but he's since reclaimed his spot. You know, he _even_ fought off the Jim Lee _Batman_ poster that was there before him! That's quite an accomplishment on _my_ wall!

Anyway, I think that is all for now! Not long to go now! Don't forget to check out the _Black Magic_ and _Small Print_ shrines – links are in my profile. Well, they should be. I just put them up so they might not have shown up yet. If not, check tomorrow.

Thankyou and goodnight!

- RobinRocks xXx


	36. Threads of Destiny

Well, this is it.

Despite the fact that I didn't showcase it in the previous chapter, this – _Threads of Destiny_ – is actually the final chapter of _Black Magic._ I know, I didn't prepare you… I'm sorry. But after this… is _Remember the Titans_.

Which is longer. And crazier. And even _more_ confusing.

As this is the last chapter, and the one in which Slade, the seer and Terra return, I am not going to thank everybody up top so that you can get onto it quicker. However, I do have these _very_ important messages before we begin:

I want to tell you all that there is now **_Black Magic_ art available**! Yesiree; Narroch06 and myself got ourselves a joint DeviantART account under the name "AvengeroftheAbyss" (three guesses why), mainly for the purpose of putting up some _Small Print_ art that we did (which isn't up yet), but I have taken advantage of this and put up no less than **six** pieces of _Black Magic_ art from the original carbon copy I wrote last year. So now you can all see Seth Elliott, Jonathon Vaughan, Marcus Vandiver, demonically-possessed Robin, Cordelia Silver, and the original chapter title page for _Boulevard of Broken Dreams_… You don't have to leave a comment or anything, but I would like it a whole lot if you checked them out, since I pretty much put them up for your benefit… However, please don't be expecting incredible digitally-coloured masterpieces; I am no good at that sort of thing. I am pretty proud of them, but they are simple ink-and-coloured-pencil jobs. Nothing very fancy, I'm afraid… You will also have to click on the Browse Gallery button beneath the "Recent Deviations" heading to see all six of them, plus two other pieces of artwork that are already up…

How to find them? Well… this brings me to another piece of news! My profile has been completely revamped and updated (and about time too!). Now it is not _only_ home to THE BIGGEST COLLECTION OF _TEEN TITANS_ QUOTES ON ANY PROFILE ON HERE (I think, anyway… there are _lots_…), it has also has tons of stupid stuff about me that you won't ever want to know (I'm British, but that doesn't make me interesting), _and_… **links galore**! There is a link to the **DeviantART** account, plus links to all three _Small Print/Black Magic_ music videos, the _Black Magic_ and _Small Print_ shrines, _Small Print_ fan art by Phoenix Skyborne and Setsuna Mudo, the **Seven Deadly Sins** test (in conjunction with the new co-written fic by myself and Narroch06, **_Seven_**, which is a seven-chaptered first-person account by each of seven Titans about a hidden sin they have; only _Envy_ is up at the moment), and a link to a Google video file of the **_Teen Titans Robot Chicken_ parody** (_worth_ three minutes of your life!).

Thankyous down bottom; and there is, of course, a _Remember the Titans_ preview chapter after this.

Threads of Destiny

"Say that again."

The seer looked at him through hooded eyes.

"You want me to tell you it all again? _Every single detail?_"

"No, not the whole thing…" Slade shrugged his broad shoulders in a show of impatience. "It bored me. Just the last line."

The seer sighed in an exaggerated manner.

"The Avenger still lives," she repeated flatly, folding her frail arms without the aid of her stick.

She didn't even blink as Slade slammed his clenched fists down on each of the arms of his throne-like chair in a gesture of both anger and frustration. He stared at the dark floor for a very long time, muttering something to himself.

The seer stood in front of the chair about two metres away from him, and on his left was Terra, her hands clasped together and her head bowed so that her sheet of blonde hair covered her face. Slade was ignoring her, but she was shaking, and the seer knew that the girl was afraid. She herself had not told Slade how the Avenger was still alive, and neither had Terra.

Not that the seer could blame her.

"Yes, he is still alive," the old woman pressed on, making Slade look up at her again, his single eye narrowed.

"_How?_" Slade spat. "Tell me how he escaped. I _must_ know how he has eluded death _again!_"

"An exorcism spell," the seer told him calmly. "Strange; our powerful demonic enchantment was beaten by a weak little exorcism spell. It was immune to most other counter-spells, but not _that_ one."

"How convenient," Slade murmured.

"For _him_, yes," the seer countered. "_We_ were not quite so fortunate."

"No, we weren't."

Slade rose from his chair in one swift movement and the seer noticed that Terra stepped back slightly. The earth-mover was terrified that the seer knew of her part in Robin's redemption, and would tell Slade.

The seer had no intention of doing any such thing.

She turned back to Slade and was just about to open her mouth but the words failed her as she found him towering over her threateningly. Instead she fixed him with a bored gaze.

"Yes?"

"I'm dismissing you," Slade said bluntly.

The seer coughed slightly.

"Excuse me? _Dismissing_ me?" She snorted in disdain. "I don't _work_ for you."

"What I am implying is that I no longer want your help," Slade said irritably.

"Oh?" The seer seemed amused. "So, what do you intend to do after my, ah… _dismissal?_"

"I intend to _kill_ Robin," Slade spat. "Something which, under your "guidance", I have not managed to do."

"Granted, our last few attempts have not been very successful-"

"_Not very successful?_" Slade burst out, interrupting her. "Every attempt has _failed_; _every wretched attempt_ to kill a 16 year old powerless boy has _failed!_"

"Then obviously his sands of life have yet to run out," the seer said calmly.

"Don't give me that!" Slade snapped. "How hard can it possibly be?"

"Quite difficult, obviously," the seer murmured.

"No, it isn't," Slade went on, his tone clipped. "It's not difficult at all. I think you're just playing games with me, telling me to do something and then laughing at me when it doesn't work."

"Why would I do that?" The seer inquired mildly.

"That's what _I'd_ like to know," Slade replied dangerously.

"It is not within your best interests to "dismiss" me, Mr Slade," the seer said softly.

"Yes it is," Slade argued. "Perhaps if go on my own intuition, I'll actually _kill_ him. I'm not listening to any more of your stupid premonitions."

"Fine then. Fail dismally. Don't fulfil the prophecy. See if I care."

The seer abruptly turned on her heel and started to walk out, depending on her staff; the staff she had seemed not to need minutes ago.

Slade turned away in disgust; he was better off without her. He was even feeling more confident about finding the key. He had examined the Orb of Azarath thoroughly and had worked out that it had to be diamond-shaped, about an inch and a half in length and just over a centimetre in width of the widest part of the prism-like shape. Some kind of other artefact, obviously, and he had already begun the search on his archives for things that matched the description. So far he had come up empty-handed, but he was sure that it was only a matter of time before he found what he was looking for.

And he had Terra. He didn't need that seer. It wasn't like she had helped him anyway.

"Oh, I suppose you won't want to know about the pregnancy, then?" The seer called to him cheerfully from the doorway of the large chamber.

Slade froze and whipped back around to face her; even Terra looked up, an expression of bewilderment on her pretty face.

"_What_ pregnancy?" Slade demanded.

The seer shrugged at him.

"You've "dismissed" me, Mr Slade. That means you no longer require any kind of information I can offer you. See you around, my boy…"

She turned away again, positively smirking.

But she lingered, taking her time to leave.

She was lying; what pregnancy would interest _him?_ It wasn't like _Robin_ could get pregnant, so it obviously didn't have anything to do with that brutal rape. She was just saying it to make him stop her, so that she could continue to control him the way she had taken to this past month.

His gaze flickered to Terra; she too seemed perplexed by the statement; she obviously didn't know any more than _he_ did. It was a trick, it had to be.

But the way she was smiling at him, that all-knowing smirk… and he had to admit, while her plans to eliminate the Avenger had all failed, she _had_ been right about everything else.

"Alright," he said defeatedly. "Tell me…"

"And you'll do as I tell you?"

"Yes."

"Without question?"

"Yes."

He hated saying it, but he said it anyway. Whatever she knew, it was vital she told him.

"Good boy."

The seer came back to him, making a show of hobbling along on her staff.

"It would seem that we have a bit more of a problem on our hands," the seer explained as she reached him, looking up at him but not in admiration. "He's gotten the girl pregnant."

"_Which_ _girl_?" Slade asked carefully. "The alien? Or…?"

He looked at Terra, trailing off.

"No, no," the seer told him hastily, making him look at her again. "Neither."

"Then which one?"

"The one which is potentially the most dangerous. The one linked to the Orb of Azarath."

Slade's single grey eye widened.

"Not… _her_…"

The seer nodded gravely.

"Yes, her, I'm afraid. The daughter of the demon Trigon."

"So this "Trigon" is about to become a grandfather," Slade mused bitterly.

"Yes." The seer pressed her withered hands together. "The Avenger now has a destined heir in the witch's womb."

Slade blinked.

"You… think that even if he died, the prophecy might still not be fulfilled, because of his unborn child? Would it then become the Avenger in his place?"

"There is no way of telling."

"But you're a _seer_," Slade pointed out scathingly.

"Whatever you may believe, Mr Slade, I do not know everything."

"So… he knocked the witch up, did he?" Slade snorted with laughter. "Funny, he really doesn't seem like the type…"

"Well, he did, and it was conceived about two days ago. There's still a long time until it is born."

"Mm. Nine months." He smirked beneath his mask. "Trust me, it's not even going to reach its first term."

"No?"

The seer's tone made him look at her.

"What do you mean, _no?_" He demanded acidly. "What do _you_ suggest I do? Let them all live as one happy little family?"

The seer snorted.

"Certainly not. I think you should review your options thoroughly, however. You never know; the baby might be of some use to you."

"What use could a _baby_ be to _me?_"

"It's going to be powerful, that much I can tell you. And think about it; _Robin_ will not be your apprentice; he is already too old to be impressioned upon, and so will therefore never join your cause. But, imagine his _child_… so like him, but with powers, and you keep it from birth, and you bring it up and train it to be a killer, teach it by your way… think what you could achieve with it then, Mr Slade. Surely _killing_ the child will be a waste?"

Slade looked at her for a very long time.

It was an idea, and _what_ an idea…

Yes, he could see it; the child of Robin and Raven, a mix of the two most potentially dangerous Titans, the scheming clever one, the one with dark powers barely unleashed… Robin's son – or daughter; it didn't really matter – working for _him_, for _his_ cause…

It was perfect.

With a few glitches.

And he wasted no time in informing her so.

"Glitches, Mr Slade?" The seer sounded genuinely surprised. "Such as?"

Slade folded his arms, seeing that, for perhaps the first time since he had met the old woman, he had her raptured attention.

"Well, for one thing, taking the child from birth would imply that _I_ would have to look after it," he pointed out scathingly. "And looking after a baby is something that I have absolutely _no_ interest in."

"You have your apprentice."

Slade glanced at Terra, noticing the look of alarm on her face at the prospect of become full-time babysitter to Robin's brat.

"I _need_ my apprentice," he said flatly. "I'm teaching _her_; that's why she's my _apprentice_. She's not becoming some kind of _nanny_ to a wretched baby. She's my weapon, my asset…"

"The child could be a greater asset to your cause, Mr Slade. It will inherit its mother's powers, and I can assure you that while your apprentice harbours great power, there is no power in this dimension nor any other that can match that of the one you call Raven."

Slade snorted.

"Perhaps," he said offishly. "But how long would it _take_ for this baby to become an asset? Babies don't walk until they're at least a year old, and even then they aren't exactly walking properly. Training couldn't commence until, at the very least, it's fifth year, and even _then_, with the most intense training regime every day of it's life, it would take _years_ for it to grow into an unbeatable fighter, and perhaps longer for it to master the powers it would inherit from its mother. And at 10 years old it wouldn't be _strong_ enough to take down an adult, no matter how skilled it was. It would have to be… well, the age of the _Titans_ before it could qualify as a real asset, and the Teen Titans aren't called the _Teen_ Titans for nothing. That's about… well, close to 16 years. I don't know about you, but that seems like a waste of 16 years to _me_, when instead I could be conquering dimensions with the power I would have unleashed from the Orb of Azarath."

The seer held his gaze for an exceedingly long time.

"I think you are overlooking the basic idea here," she said eventually. "This child will become your greatest weapon."

"And you know that _how?_" Slade barbed.

"I'm a _seer_."

"You're a seer, but a moment ago you didn't know if the child would replace Robin as the Avenger?"

Slade's expression beneath his mask was disbelieving, but the seer seemed to be able to read it even through the metal that hid his face so well.

"As I have said, I do not know everything, Mr Slade."

"No, you don't, do you? You only seem to know the things… that you _want_ to. The things that you want to _tell me_. And the things which you _don't_ want to tell me… are, quite conveniently, beyond your abilities as a seer to find out."

The seer raised her grey eyebrows.

"What are you implying, Mr Slade?"

Slade smirked beneath his mask.

"You know perfectly well what I am implying."

"Indulge me."

Slade's smirk only deepened at her sceptical tone.

"Very well… It would appear to me that you are having a little… let's call it "fun", shall we… on my behalf."

One of the old woman's eyebrows shot up into an arch.

"Do go on," she said, a dangerous edge to her voice.

"Well, the boy's "virginity"." Slade looked briefly at Terra as he said it. "And you told me – no, _tricked_ me – and led me to believe that I had to…"

He trailed off; he still couldn't say it out loud. The seer smirked now, purely at his discomfort.

"Still having trouble acknowledging what you've done, boy?" She sneered. "You're pathetic…"

"I'm no more pathetic than _you_ are," Slade spat. "You constantly lie to me, tell me to do things that I don't need to, and you know, it would not surprise me in the slightest if you've been _intending_ for all of the death attempts on the boy to fail. In fact, maybe you aren't a seer at all; maybe you're just doing all this as a joke, trying to sabotage my attempts to fulfil the orb's power… _In fact_…" He paused, the realisation dawning upon him. "Maybe there _is_ no prophecy, and this orb holds _no power at all!_"

"The seer snorted in disdain.

"Don't be ridiculous, boy!" She snapped. "_Of course_ I'm a seer, _of course_ there's a prophecy, and _of course_ that orb holds power. If all of it was a lie, or a "joke"… well, think about it, dear boy; why the hell would I _bother_ wasting my time? What would I gain from showing up here and wasting hours at a time sending you on wild goose chases? I can think of much better things to do with my time, you know; seers can earn a _fortune_ if they go private."

Her green eyes flashed.

"But instead I am _here_, listening to you disregarding my gifts, unappreciative of all the help I have given you. You wouldn't even _know_ about that prophecy if I hadn't shown up that night at the museum and told you about it, and now you have the _nerve_ to stand before me as though you already hold the orb's power within your wretched hand and tell me that I am not even a real seer. Worse, you even go so far as to disdain the orb _itself! _I am starting to think that you are not worthy of the orb's power_…_"

Slade snorted.

"Why are you lecturing me, witch? I'm one of the Chosen Few, am I not? Shouldn't that be reason enough for you to serve me?"

The seer threw her stick aside in rage.

"_I do not serve you, you filthy mortal!_" She screeched.

She snapped one hand in his direction and a blue blade of pure energy merged from the very air itself and arced towards him. Slade threw up his arms in a basic defensive block, but the blade still smacked right into him, sending him sprawling. He rolled with the blow, scraping to a halt some ten feet away from where he had originally been standing.

"Terra," he said coldly, the order unspoken as he rose painfully to his feet. Terra looked at him, than at the seer, and then back again, dithering. She quite liked the seer, but-

"Don't stand there, girl!" Slade snapped. "_Attack_ her!"

Terra stepped in front of him, still unsure of whether to obey him or not.

"Do not worry, my dear," the seer said quietly, putting up her hand to show that she was not going to attack again. "There is no need for you to defend your wretched master…"

She retrieved her stick and leaned upon it again, even though by this point it was sort of obvious that she didn't really need it.

"Let that be a lesson to you, boy," she said coldly, addressing Slade. "Do not disrespect me ever again, or you'll get worse."

Slade snorted, but made a mental note not to voice his opinions in her presence ever again.

"It would seem that the threads of destiny are becoming undone," the seer mused softly.

Slade exchanged looks with Terra.

"Excuse me?"

The seer looked up at them both, her rage seemingly gone.

"I had not foreseen this," she explained. "I had no idea that a _child_ would be added into this already-complicated equation."

"So… this resulting pregnancy… was not originally part of the space/time continuum," Slade said uneasily.

The seer gazed at him fixedly.

"No," she replied eventually. "It would not appear to be. This baby… was never supposed to exist."

Again, Slade exchanged a look with his blonde apprentice.

"And yet it does?"

The seer simply nodded, her lips pursed.

"I can not say how this has happened. Perhaps there has been a slight glitch in the layers of space and time, and so that in _this_ reality, the Azarathian has conceived the Avenger's child. But in a future time…"

"It might not have happened," Slade finished, catching on.

"Right." The seer nodded again in confirmation. "Perhaps there has been a mix-up in an alternate reality; I am unable to say…"

"This isn't going to cause a collapse in reality, is it?" Slade asked cautiously. "Rips in the fabric of reality have happened before…"

"Yes," the seer agreed flatly, "and most of them have been caused by an alternate dimension version of the Avenger himself, the interdimensional… well, I don't exactly know _what_ he is…"

"Who are you talking about?" Slade queried idly, not really interested in whatever she was babbling about.

"A certain _NosyargKcid_, or better known to the Teen Titans themselves as "Larry". He had caused so many fractures to the space/time continuum I am surprised it is not in a permanent plaster-cast."

"I see." Slade didn't see at all; nor did he care.

"Well…" The seer shrugged carelessly. "I wouldn't imagine this will cause too much damage, but just to be on the safe side, do _not_, under any circumstances, kill that baby, nor its mother – while she still carries it, of course. Dispose of her afterwards, if you wish."

"And Robin?"

"The father?" The seer smirked. "Kill him the next chance you get. Do not dither, for every day that boy grows stronger, becomes smarter. Although you are more than capable of defeating him _now_, there will come a time where you will not be able to lay a finger on him. The one known as the "Boy Wonder" will one day blossom into something as powerful and efficient as the one who taught him, maybe more so. _Robin_ may not be able to defeat you, Mr Slade, but let me tell you… _Nightwing_ will."

"_Nightwing?_" Slade repeated. "Robin will…?"

The seer snorted as he trailed off.

"He can't stay dressed up as a pretty little songbird forever. Robin's reckoning will come, Mr Slade… providing that the boy is still alive by then. Which, if you want the orb's power, he _won't_ be."

Slade nodded.

"So, your advice is… spare the child – and the mother, until the child is safely out of her womb – but kill Robin as quickly as possible?"

"That's not my _advice_, Mr Slade," the seer corrected softly. "It's my _order_, and if you want to fulfil that prophecy correctly, you _will_ do as I tell you."

Slade raised his eyebrows beneath his mask but refrained from commenting; he was still smarting from his last encounter with her.

"Killing the baby may indeed cause severe harm to the fabric of reality," the seer went on. "It's too risky a gamble. Instead, focus on bringing about the death of the Avenger. I will not aid you this time, if you believe that you will be able to kill him successfully by your own ends. However, Mr Slade, I must press that this time, you _do not fail_. This is really becoming a rather tiresome exercise, wouldn't you agree?"

Slade was about to fire back that every single one the failed attempts – bar the one involving the Joker – had been _her_ idea. But he thought better of it, and simply nodded.

"Excellent, my boy." The seer nodded curtly to him, and then to Terra; then she turned and left the room, her limp gone once again.

"It would seem that we have a little re-writing of history to do, Terra."

Terra looked up in surprise.

"Sorry?"

Slade snorted.

"If I've learned anything from my encounters with that seer, Terra, it's not to trust her. Whenever I follow one of her "orders" I always end up worse for wear, and absolutely _no_ closer to unlocking the orb's power. I made a mistake by voicing it, but I'm sure she's doing at least some of this for her own amusement. She _knew_ that boy wasn't a virgin, but she lied to me and told me he _was_."

He wasn't really addressing Terra any longer but the blonde earth-mover was nodding in understanding anyway. She could believe what he was saying; she herself quite liked the seer, moreover because the old woman treated her, Terra, like another human being, whereas Slade only treated her as, well… his _apprentice_. He respected her power, but not _her_ as a person. Sometimes she was sure he saw her as little more than the dirt she shifted. But all that aside, she had to admit that Slade was right; the seer _wasn't_ trustworthy.

"You've noticed that one minute she has a bad limp, but when she sees fit she does not need that wretched stick _at all!_" Slade went on, seething. "And she changed her story about that wretched baby. I don't know why, Terra, but she doesn't want that baby killed. Maybe it's because she's a woman, or maybe _she_ has plans for it, but… she was going to any means possible to stop me from even _thinking_ about killing it! First it could be an asset, and then by killing it we could upset the whole balance of reality! So which is it?"

Terra shook her head mutely, implying "I don't know, why are you asking _me?_".

"I'll _tell_ you which it is!" Slade ranted. "It's _neither!_ True, _either_ of them could be possible; maybe the baby _will_ be of use to me, maybe we _will_ destroy reality as we know it, but the _real_ reason is yet _another_ thing she won't tell me!"

Slade whipped around to face his apprentice.

"What is she _up_ to?" He asked in frustration, the question rhetorical.

Terra shrugged, mildly surprised; she had _never_ seen Slade so worked up before.

"Well, we're going to _upset_ her little balance," Slade went on. "We're going to _kill_ them, _every last one of them_. I want the five Titans _dead_, _including_ the Avenger, _including_ the pregnant Azarathian, and I want the _baby_ dead, too. That makes _six_ lives to claim, Terra, and I _won't rest_ until I stand before their lifeless bodies, making sure they are _absolutely 100 dead_."

He gazed fixedly at his apprentice, his one grey eye locked with her two large blue ones.

"That's your assignment, Terra," he hissed. "_Smash_ them until there's nothing left of them but bloody pulp, bury them in a mudslide, collapse a _whole blasted mountain_ on them if you have to, but _kill them!_ The alien, the robot, the shape-shifter, the telekinetic, the Boy-freaking-Wonder and his _damned unborn child_… _I want them dead, Terra!_"

Slade took a deep, gasping breath, calming his hysterical tone.

"And then," he said, his voice almost gentle, "there'll be no more Teen Titans, and there'll be no Justice League, and there'll be no more _Robin_… there'll be no-one to stop me, Terra; _no-one_. And then I'll find the key, and I'll unlock the Orb of Azarath, and I'll be _all-powerful_… and everything will be as it _should_ be."

Terra merely bit her lip and said nothing.

"And the first thing I'm going to do, when I get my new powers…" Slade went on, his voice barely audible now, "… is kill that seer…"

Terra merely stood there, letting his bloodthirsty promises wash over her. Only one thought was going through her head; _kill the shape-shifter, kill the shape-shifter, kill the shape-shifter_…

_Beast Boy…_

"Robin's reckoning, hmm?"

Slade snorted with laughter at the phrase, and Terra looked up.

"Sorry?"

"She – the seer – said that Robin's transformation into… what was it? Darkwing? No, _Nightwing_… That the boy's transformation into Nightwing would be his reckoning…"

"And?"

Slade started to wander away even as he spoke.

"It shall be a _reckoning_, Terra, and it shall be coming much sooner than they – or that seer – think," he went on, his smirk pronounced behind his mask. "But not just for _Robin_; for _all_ of them, and it draws ever nigh…"

He turned to face her, still smiling.

"Oh, and _what_ a reckoning it shall be…"

**TO BE CONCLUDED…**

**TT**

Uh-huh, that's it until _Remember the Titans_…

**Larry** – No, despite the mention of everybody's (_coughcough_) favourite mayhem-causing interdimensional… _thing_, Mr Larry will not be appearing, and I'm sorry if I led you to believe he _would_. I like him, but he really has no place in this kind of story-arc…

Now, to thank all the reviewers, and then you may proceed to the preview chapter…

**Azar the Kinslayer **(glad I've found another person in the war against the whole "Out-of-character-Teen-Titans-pregnancy-fics… and yeah, you gotta love the drama…); **Quinn and His Quill **(thankyou for the, um… accurate _Small Print_ commentary… However, you did get _one_ thing wrong, dope; they aren't _pyjamas_!); **Raven of the Night676 **(the seer? In league with Seth? Well, as this is the last chapter, you won't have to wait long for the answer! Glad you enjoyed _Asylum_ too!); **Me **(okay, I booked to Botox… _heh-heh_… I haven't really thought about the other Titans having a star sign. Robin just seems like an Aries to me. Speedy I guess I associate with Sagittarius (which is mine, actually), but that's because of the whole arching thing…);** Rocky-White Wolf of Curses** (hope the shrine is going well! There are now links in my new profile… Oh, and there won't be "more ASAP" for a while now…); **Peace215 **(I can see that you are definitely pro-RobinxRaven's kid… some people aren't so enthusiastic, including Robin himself… But yeah, they are pretty much up Shit Creek at the moment… what will they do, is the question?); **Super Chaos **(give you more hints? Right now? Nope. Heh-heh… But just hang on a little while until _Remember the Titans_, and you'll get the whole story… A mini Robin with telekinesis would be cool, though…); **Xrockinrobin **(I read that somewhere about his birthday too, I think it was _Robin: Year One_…Seth is way confusing, but _Remember the Titans_ will – eventually – explain what he is up to…); **Simmie **(well, I am on 196 reviews, so I think I should definitely hit 400… unless no-one reviews out of spite… BTW, you are actually making a lot of correct guesses in you reviews, but I'm not going to say which ones…); **Narroch06 **(you have me figured out, huh? I'll just _bet_ you do… You and your archetypes… And you think Seth is working for the seer, huh? Maybe, maybe… And quit with that crazy evil laughter you lil' weirdo!); **YamiTai **(name for the kid? Not telling… Raven comes up with a few of her own, though, in _RTT_…); **Coolteenzz **(if you are in History, shouldn't you be _doing_ History? I hope you enjoyed the additional two chapters, and there is a link to your MVs in my new profile, okay? Thanks for the _Child of the Hunt_ one, although I haven't seen it yet. When are you going to put in on YouTube?); **Poison's Ivy **(okay, I finally checked out that fic. It was pretty good; thanks for the recommendation! Sure you can call me a friend; and nope, you keep quiet, okay? Uh, yeah, that's _precisely_ what Seth did, and I got the idea for the pregnancy test (what it looks like) from a British fantasy programme (like a British version of _Buffy_) called _Hex_. As for me… you can find out lots about me on my new profile, but in case you can't be bothered to look (I admit there is a lot on there), I am female, and I'm 17, although I was 16 when I wrote this fic. And will Seth lose his powers if the Avenger dies? Good question… that I'm not answering! Mwa ha ha!).

Okaaay… there is one last chapter, with info on _Remember the Titans_, and an extract from the very thick of it. It won't answer any questions, you know…

- RobinRocks xXx

P.S: Check out that damn art!


	37. Remember the Titans Preview

Well, here we are! _Black Magic_ present, read and all accounted for! Whoo-hoo! Enjoy it? Well, at any rate it wasn't _as_ off-the-rails as _Asylum_, right?

Right…?

_Heh heh heh…_

Anyhoo, just one more instalment to go, and we're all done! _Yay!_ And I'll wrap up all the (very) loose ends. Oh dear, you poor little cretins… I've left you hanging on so many loose threads, and some twists I bet _none_ of you were expecting when you started reading this! Raven _pregnant_?

_Oops…_ You never saw _that_ coming, did you? Or maybe you did. I mean, they're goody-goody teenaged superheroes…

…but I _did_ drop hints the size of the USSR…

Anyway, just for your enjoyment… a taster of _Remember the Titans…_

"…_You **are** cutting it rather fine, however," Slade went on lazily, consulting the intricate gold pocket watch in his hand. "Only three minutes to midnight. I must admit that I feared you were not going to show up at all…"_

_Robin forced a laugh._

"_What, and miss this? Not a chance!"_

"_Indeed." Slade discarded the watch unceremoniously, his gaze still fixed on Robin. "No matter; three minutes is more than enough to dispatch you once and for all, sweet Avenger…"_

_Slade moved faster than Robin could follow – although maybe the shadows of the room helped – and leapt into a flying roundhouse kick. It caught Robin full-on in the chest and threw him so far backwards that the boy couldn't quite believe the distance he had enthused when he painfully staggered to his feet. He clutched at the red diamond at his neck, trying to straighten up._

_He was losing already._

_With three – probably less than that now – minutes until midnight, Slade certainly wasn't in a mood for toying, as he usually was. As he had so clearly stated, the need to dispatch the Avenger ASAP was painfully prominent, and for whatever else he was, Slade was a man who got things done. _

_Slade was upon him again, but this time Robin was ready for him, snapping an axe kick at the villain's head. For once his short stature worked for him – his heel caught Slade squarely in the chin, snapping his head back. Using it to his advantage, Robin spun into a back kick, using his heel again – and the sharp, heavy edge of his steel sole – to catch Slade in the solar plexus. Slade stumbled and doubled over, able to do little else. Robin spun again, 180 degrees, into a reverse kick, knocking Slade right off his feet._

_Karate. Taekwondo. _

_Robin handsprung right over Slade's fallen form, darting towards the orb in the middle of the sacred spell circle again. Slade swore obscenely at him, already getting up. Robin ignored him, his attention on the Orb of Azarath—_

—_And suddenly the seer was in front of him. Robin attempted to sidestep her, but found it quite impossible; she seemed to know which way he was going to move every time._

"_Get out of the way!" He snapped at her, frustrated and desperate beyond belief._

_She smiled indulgently, shaking her head._

_Furious, and in a move that was very out of character, he snapped a hook kick at her head. She raised her arm, taking the blow, then twisted her hand over and grasped his ankle, the movement faster than his eyes could follow. She held him there for a few agonizing seconds—_

—_Then threw him to the ground, where he landed painfully on his back._

"_This is the first time I have met you, Avenger," she said, smirking, as she leaned over him. "But already I have decided that you are insolent, and that you are terribly impatient, and that you are exceedingly arrogant. I don't like you very much at all, dear boy. Isn't that a sin; for me to dislike you already, when we have only just met?"_

_Robin propped himself up on his elbows, his gaze meeting hers, blue penetrating green._

_Her smile only deepened as he looked away and got to his feet. He stood facing her, and only the slight raise of her eyebrows informed him that Slade was behind him. Instinctively he whipped around, taking the hammer blow aimed at his head on his forearm in a knife block. He snapped a switch kick at Slade's stomach again, hoping to get him where he was already weakened, but Slade deflected it, instead bringing his knee up to meet Robin's chin with a sickening crunch. The Boy Wonder was thrown back to the ground, landing a few feet away._

_Robin got to his knees, almost retching at the taste of blood in his mouth. His jaw was screaming with pain, but he could still move it, so he knew it wasn't broken. The blood streaming from his mouth, however, would have given anyone the impression to think otherwise. He wiped it away and spat onto the floor, astounded at the amount of blood. The cut above his left eye still bled too, although it was beginning to slow and congeal._

_Slade started for him, cracking his knuckles…"_

What was all that about? Well, it's quite a way in, so… like I said, it doesn't answer any questions…

More heads-ups on the fic:

**The pregnancy: **Which pretty much takes centre stage. Well, it's VERY important, anyway, if not quite centre stage… Rest assured that there will be some kind of conclusion to it.

**Seth Elliott: **What is he up to? You will find out… eventually…

**Terra: **Who has a much larger role in _Remember the Titans_. In fact, in a lot of ways… you could even say she's the most important character in the entire thing. Why is that? Not telling! Ha ha ha! But I'm afraid… if you hate her, either stop reading, or please come to _RTT_ with an open mind about her. You will be seeing a very different side to her.

**Speedy/Roy: **I promised he would be in it, and he will be. I know it seems like I am cramming irrelevant characters into this now, but I'm not. He fits in rather nicely and I think you're gonna like him…

**The Return of Batman:** Yes, he's back. Will he find out about the bouncing bundle of joy? And what will he do if he does?

**Cameos from other characters: **_Remember the Titans_ includes VERY small and brief cameos from characters such as; Superman, Lex Luthor, Lois Lane, Wonder Woman, Johnny Rancid, Kitten, the Amazing Mumbo, Barbara Gordon (not as Batgirl, I'm afraid), Commissioner Gordon and (no kidding) Static Shock. Again, I'm not cramming needless characters in; they are hardly in it, maybe say a line or two each… and you will understand why when you get there… Technically the fic is the _Teen Titans_ fandom crossed over with _Batman: TAS_/_Superman: TAS_/_Justice League_/_Static Shock_. Nothing that really affects the storyline, though; don't worry! Crazy random crossovers really scare me… Just think of all five series running parallel, like I do…

**The Azarathian Senate: **Is most certainly back, and with a vendetta to settle…

**Main pairings: **RobinxRaven, with a little bit of RobinxStarfire (please don't hurt me!), and of course, Beast BoyxTerra. Side pairings include one-sided MarcusxJonathon (no prizes for guessing why it's one-sided) and maybe even a little bit of DEFINITELY one-sided SethxRaven… I'm not saying anymore about that right now…

There are also a lot of fight scenes in the fic; there is a RobinxSlade one that I actually researched by getting out books on martial arts from the library. I am quite proud of that one. Plus the other super-powered Titans come into a few scraps of their own; witness Starfire and Beast Boy not taking any nonsense from a certain blonde ex-Titan, and Cyborg and Raven chasing the Amazing Mumbo through a jewellery (Brit spelling) store…

Plus: Magic! _Real_ magic! More research on my part into Wiccan ceremonies and lore (Quinn, despite this, I am NOT A WITCH!). I like to think of _Remember the Titans_ as a fusion of action and fantasy.

Hopefully you will think so too; and hopefully I have intrigued you!

**Huge thankyou to every single person who has ever reviewed! Especially big thanks to all regular reviewers! **At _least_ half of you have been here right from the start, in _Asylum_!Together, I am sure we have hit and overstepped the 400 mark on this; and that is a victory for all of us! We're all in this together; because if no-one read and reviewed, what would be the point? I wouldn't even bother updating… I hope to welcome you all back for _Remember the Titans_, which will be up within a month, I promise. I guess the easiest thing is to put me on Author Alert, and the site will notify you when it goes up. Then you can always take me off again afterwards…

Plus, don't forget to check out the "Official _Black Magic_ Art" (by me!) on the DeviantART account shared by my co-writer Narroch06 and myself. It's up _for_ you guys; any non-readers won't even understand it! Link on my crazy new profile!

And on that note…

What'll happen to the team now that Robin and Raven are in such a dilemma?

Just what _is_ Seth Elliott up to?

And what's the deal with Slade's seer?

Tune in next time;

Same Bat-time…

Same Bat-channel!

And now, I leave you with a poem I read on a fridge magnet:

_Beware the deadly donkey,_

_Falling from the sky;_

_You can choose the way you live, my friend,_

_But not the way you die._

_That_… really is all for _Black Magic_. Check out the art, but otherwise… TTFN (until _RTT_)!

- RobinRocks xXx


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